Bangkok, Nov. 10, (dpa/GNA) – As fighting worsens in eastern Myanmar, President Myint Swe has warned that the country is in danger of splintering apart.
If the government does not deal effectively with the incidents in the border region, it will break up the country, according to a report in the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.
In Shan State on the border with China, there has been fierce fighting between the military and several armed ethnic groups for a fortnight.
Myanmar’s army ousted the de facto head of government, Aung San Suu Kyi, in a violent coup in February 2021. A junta has imposed brutal rule over the country since then, using force to crush resistance.
Suu Kyi, a past winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was sentenced to more than 30 years and is still in prison.
Many armed resistance groups from different minority groups are fighting the army in several parts of the multi-ethnic state, one of the biggest military challenges for the rulers.
Three ethnic groups launched the offensive in Shan State on October 27: The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army. All three traditionally have close ties to China.
Beijing however may be the Myanmar army’s most important ally and is a key supplier of weapons.
Members of the MNDAA told dpa that the three ethnic groups had taken control of four cities and more than 150 military bases, including Chinshwehaw, the second-largest border post between Myanmar and China.
They said the groups occupied several police stations and seized several army tanks. They also said a whole army company stationed in Kunlong township had surrendered.
The information could not be independently verified.
There are more than a dozen armed ethnic groups in the border areas of Myanmar, some of which have been fighting the army for decades and are demanding autonomy. Those battles have grown more intense since the 2021 coup.
Shan state, which borders China, Laos and Thailand, is Myanmar’s largest administrative area, spanning almost a quarter of the country’s total area.
GNA