The Myanmar military regime has labeled the three ethnic armed groups in the Brotherhood Alliance as “terrorist organizations” following a series of significant battlefield defeats and territorial losses.

In a statement released on Monday (2 September), the regime accused the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Arakan Army (AA) — the armed faction of the United League of Arakan — of carrying out “terrorist acts,” including bombings in civilian areas and the destruction of state-owned infrastructure and buildings.

The military junta also accused the ethnic armed groups of killing innocent people and forcing people to join their ranks.

Since taking power in a coup in February 2021, the junta has been responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including killing civilians, burning villages, and bombing residential areas.

By calling these armed groups “terrorists,” the junta has ruled out any chance of talking or negotiating with them. It also means that China can no longer host peace talks between the junta and the ethnic groups, as it has done before.

On Tuesday, during a visit to the Myanmar military’s Eastern Command in Taunggyi, the leader of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing, warned that anyone connected to the ethnic groups should be seen as supporting terrorism.

Along with allied resistance groups including People’s Defense Force units (PDFs) under the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), the Brotherhood Alliance launched a major offensive, dubbed Operation 1027, in October last year, attacking regime targets across northern Shan State.

Since then, the alliance has seized almost the whole of northern Shan State, capturing around 25 towns including Lashio, the capital of northern Shan. Fighting continues in Nawnghkio Township near Mandalay Region’s Pyin Oo Lwin, a junta garrison town. The TNLA and allied resistance groups are currently attempting to seize the junta’s remaining bases in Nawnghkio’s Taung Hkam Village.

Meanwhile, the AA has seized almost the whole of Rakhine State in western Myanmar since it widened Operation 1027 to the state in November last year.

After losing control of the territory, the junta has been bombing towns and villages in the liberated areas of Rakhine and northern Shan states, killing civilians and destroying civilian buildings.

Local newspaper Irrawaddy quoted a military analyst who closely monitors nationwide resistance attacks. He saif that by declaring them as terrorist groups the military junta was taking a more aggressive stance toward the ethnic alliance.

However, he said the move would have no effect on the ethnic armies, as the international community does not recognize the junta’s declarations.

The analyst added that in taking the step, the junta was likely looking to secure more military assistance from Russia, as the regime and Moscow are cooperating on “counterterrorism”.

In late July, Khin Yi, the chair of the junta military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, asked Russia to recognize the armed conflict in the country as a war against terrorism and to help the regime fight it.

In May 2021, the junta declared the NUG, its parliamentary committee and the PDF as “terrorist groups” for what it called “acts of incitement” against the regime.

The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which formed the NUG, in March 2021 declared the military regime a “terrorist group” for ousting the democratically elected government and committing violence in the country.

An independent group of former United Nations human rights observers, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), stated in December 2021 that the junta military should be designated and treated as a terrorist organization due to its extreme acts of criminal violence against civilians.

Since the military coup in February 2021, 5,592 people have been killed and 27,294, including elected government leaders, have been arrested or jailed by the military regime as of Monday, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
 

BOB Post