The ruling Junta in Myanmar has been losing vital military locations and border towns to well-armed ethnic militias that have collaborated with resistance forces to launch massive new offensives in recent weeks, CNN reported. This is a development that has not been seen in decades when it comes to Junta in Myanmar. “The junta is actively collapsing right now and that’s only become possible because there is this wider effort across the country,” an independent Myanmar analyst, Matthew Arnold said, according to CNN.
Arnold described the situation as a “military existential moment” and stated that the opposition is “now focused on taking major towns to fundamentally defeat the junta.” It appears well-armed ethnic militias are attempting to overthrow the military government that has controlled the country since a 2021 coup ousted the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD). For decades, there has been a civil war raging in Myanmar between the ethnic armies and the various military regimes.
However, the nation’s opposition to army leader Min Aung Hlaing’s February 2021 coup, which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, is what led to the most recent uptick in hostilities. In Myanmar’s rural and urban centres, people took up guns to protect their towns and villages when the military used force against peaceful protestors following the coup, and documented crimes against civilians further incited anger.