According to new statistics, Myanmar’s military is engaging in more lethal clashes with organized groups of armed people. Many of those opposing the military are young people whose lives have been put on hold since the junta took control a year ago.
The severity and scope of the violence, as well as the coordination of opposing attacks, indicate that the crisis has progressed from an uprising to a civil war.
According to Acled, a conflict monitoring organization, violence has now spread throughout the country (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project). According to reports from the ground, the fighting has gotten more coordinated and has reached metropolitan areas where there has previously been little armed opposition to the military.
Although accurate death tolls are difficult to establish, Acled, which uses its statistics on local media and other reports, has compiled estimates indicating that about 12,000 people have been murdered in political violence since the military seized control on February 1, 2021. Since August, clashes have been more lethal month after month.
The majority of people were killed in the early aftermath of the coup when security forces clamped down on widespread protests. Acled numbers demonstrate that the mounting death toll is now the consequence of warfare, as citizens have taken up guns.
In an interview with the BBC, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet agreed that the conflict in Myanmar, also known as Burma, should be classified as a civil war and urged the UN Security Council to take “stronger action” to compel the military to restore democracy. She called the situation as “lacked urgency” and claimed the international reaction to the issue had “catastrophic” warning that the violence has now jeopardized regional security.
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) is a loose network of civilian militia organizations primarily made up of young adults that are opposing government troops.
The PDF is made up of farmers, housewives, physicians, and engineers from all walks of life. They are bound together by a desire to topple military power.
There are units all throughout the nation, but in the middle plains and towns, young people from the Bamar ethnic majority are taking the lead, joining forces with adolescents of other ethnicities. The military forces are facing violent pushback from young Bamars for the first time in Myanmar’s recent history.
It is hardly an even struggle, according to Nagar, a former businessman who leads multiple PDF units in central Myanmar’s Sagaing Region.
The PDF once just had catapults, but they have subsequently developed their own muskets and explosives. Aerial weaponry is available to the highly equipped military, and it has been deployed often in recent months. It has the ability to obtain weaponry from nations that openly back the junta, like as Russia and China.
“Children are unable to attend school. Everything has gone backwards in terms of education, health, social, economic, and livelihood “Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng agrees.
“Due to the weak economy, some people had to abort their children since they couldn’t afford to care for them. Due to financial difficulties, parents are unable to properly guide their children.”