Bangkok, Thailand
AP
A Baptist pastor and three other men were killed and a town of 2,000 homes all but abandoned this past weekend in fighting in Myanmar’s western Chin State that escalated after a call for a nationwide uprising against the country’s military government, a resident said Thursday.
People displaced by fighting in north-western Myanmar between junta forces and anti-junta fighters walk in Chin State, Myanmar, on 31st May. PICTURE: Reuters/Stringer
The fighting on Saturday in Thantlang between government troops and the Chinland Defense Force, a local resistance group, followed more than a week of smaller skirmishes in which at least two government troops were reported killed.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday warned of a human rights catastrophe under military rule in Myanmar and urged the international community to do more to prevent conflict from worsening.
“The national consequences are terrible and tragic – the regional consequences could also be profound,” Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.
“The international community must redouble its efforts to restore democracy and prevent wider conflict before it is too late.”
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power on 1st February, ending a decade of tentative democracy and prompting outrage at home and abroad at the return of military rule.
More than 1,120 people have been killed since the coup, according to the United Nations, many during a nationwide crackdown by security forces on pro-democracy strikes and protests, during which thousands have been arrested.
Armed resistances forces have formed in various regions, which have clashed with the military, prompting many thousands to flee, including to neighbouring India in recent days.
Bachelet said troops had used weapons against civilians that were intended for military conflict and carried out “indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery barrages”.
Local media in Myanmar reported deadly violence in at least five different regions and states on Thursday, which included the use of home-made bombs by militias allied with a shadow government, which earlier this month called for a “people’s defensive war” against the junta.
The military has called those “terrorists” whose campaign will fail.
Western countries have condemned the junta and imposed targeted sanctions, but critics say a tougher stand must be taken, including an arms embargo.
Bachelet said Myanmar had failed to deliver on its agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to cease violence and start dialogue.
“This underscores the urgent need for strong accountability measures. It also runs in the face of commitments made to ASEAN leaders,” she said.
– Reuters
Chin State has had some of the strongest insurgent activity against the military-installed government that seized power in February from the elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi. Residents of the remote region have a long-standing reputation for their fierce fighting spirit.
The Chinland Defense Force said it killed two army soldiers in a 9th September ambush, according to independent Myanmar media. Sporadic fighting was also reported in the area over the following days.
Major fighting broke out on 18th September, according to both the resistance and the government.
An artillery shell started a fire that destroyed 19 buildings including a newly built hotel, said a resident who insisted on not being identified because he feared punishment from the government.
He said fellow residents told him that Pastor Cung Biak Hum was shot to death by government troops as he tried to help put out the fire, and three other men were also said to have been fatally shot.
He said only about 30 people – 20 boys and several adults – remained at an orphanage at the edge of town after most residents fled to nearby villages for safety.
Myanmar media carried similar accounts from other sources.
Government spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun blamed the fighting on Chin resistance forces and said the pastor’s death was under investigation.
The National Unity Government, a opposition organisation that seeks to coordinate resistance to military rule, issued a call on 7th September for a “people’s defensive war” to escalate the struggle.
The revolt against the government is being fought on two fronts, with acts such assassinations and bombings occurring in urban areas and more conventional battles in the countryside, though badly outgunned rural residents prefer ambush tactics to head-on combat.
