“I will return home after this revolution.”xDuring that time the group of roughly 60 has fought around twenty skirmishes with the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, he said. Since the coup, fighting between Myanmar’s military and rebel groups in the east of the country has displaced an estimated 100,000 people, the UN said last month. xLocals in Kayah state have accused the military of using artillery shells that have landed in villages. As well as the rise of local self-defence forces, analysts believe hundreds of anti-coup protesters from Myanmar’s towns and cities have trekked into insurgent-held areas to receive military training. The civilian fighters are often outnumbered and outgunned in clashes with Myanmar’s military — one of Southeast Asia’s most battle-hardened and brutal.

Source: The Guardian July 11, 2021 07:30 UTC