Dozens of Rohingya killed in 5 months of renewed fighting in western Myanmar

RFA
By RFA Burmese
2024.04.01

The attacks have left an already traumatized community in constant fear for their lives.

Residents of Thada village, Minbya township, Myanmar, mourn villagers killed during an overnight airstrike by the military junta, March 18, 2024. ,AA Info Desk

Junta airstrikes and artillery bombardments in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state have killed 79 Rohingya Muslims and injured 127 more since ethnic Arakan Army rebels ended a ceasefire with the military in November, according to data compiled by RFA Burmese.

Facebook Tried to Ban Myanmar’s Military. But Its Own Algorithm Kept Promoting Pages Supporting Them, Report Says

TIMES

BY BILLY PERRIGO
JUNE 24, 2021 

YANGON, MYANMAR - 2021/03/06: Myanmar military with military trucks seen during a demonstration against the military coup. Myanmar police attacked protesters with rubber bullets, live ammunition, tear gas and stun bombs in response to anti military coup protesters on Saturday. Myanmar's military detained State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi on February 01, 2021 and declared a state of emergency while seizing the power in the country for a year after losing the election against the National League for Democracy (NLD). (Photo by Santosh Krl/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett—© 2021 SOPA Images

Facebook promoted pages that shared pro-military propaganda in Myanmar, even after it banned accounts linked to the military from the platform due to human rights abuses and the risk of violence, according to a report by the human rights group Global Witness.

Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, overthrew the country’s civilian government in February, claiming that elections in November 2020 had been rigged. Later that month, Facebook said it had decided to ban the Tatmadaw from its platform, citing the military’s history of human rights abuses, record of spreading misinformation and the increased risk of violence after the coup.

Resistance Fighters Battle Myanmar’s Military in Mandalay

New York Times

Hannah Beech
June 22, 2021

A shootout in Myanmar’s second-biggest city was the first time the military and a group of armed civilians known as the People’s Defense Force clashed in a major urban area.

The military government of Myanmar released this photograph on Tuesday, saying it showed soldiers and police officers making arrests at a house raid in Mandalay.Credit...Commander in Chief Office

The gunfire in the city of Mandalay began shortly after 7 a.m. on Tuesday, as Buddhist monks paced the streets for alms and residents lined up for breakfasts of milk tea or noodle soup.

Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, has been a center of anti-military resistance since the junta staged a coup on Feb. 1. Dozens have been shot dead by security forces there. But the boom of heavy artillery so early in the morning was unusual.

Myanmar’s military junta uses explosives against protesters

LA PRENSA

LATINA MEDIA
April 9, 2021

Bangkok, Apr 9 (EFE).- Myanmar’s security forces on Friday launched explosive devices against anti-coup protesters in the city of Bago, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Yangon, amid continued condemnation by the international community against the repression.

A resident told online news portal Myanmar Now that, since early morning, the security forces have been firing with heavy weapons at a group of protesters after at least two people died in the city the previous day as a result of repression by the authorities.

The news website also published a series of photographs showing a projectile, which could be a piece of mortar.

CNN team confronts Myanmar’s military on deadly coup

CNN
April 8th, 2021

In an exclusive report from Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward, CNN shows a new look at life inside Myanmar’s coup and confronts the military junta about the violent suppression of protests taking place in the country.

CNN was the first international media organisation permitted to enter the Southeast Asian nation since the military unseated the civilian government in a coup on February 1. Since then, the military has waged a brutal clampdown on pro-democracy protesters, which has led to more than 500 deaths.

Ward confronted Major General Zaw Min Tun, a senior member of the military junta, about the intensifying violence taking place against civilians and peaceful protesters.

Myanmar’s Brutal Military Was Once a Force for Freedom – but it’s been Waging Civil War for Decades

INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST

Tharaphi Than

APRIL 5, 2021

With great fanfare – but few guests – Myanmar’s armed forces recently celebrated their 76th anniversary in the nation’s capital of Naypyitaw.

Only Russia, China, Thailand, and a handful of other Asian countries sent representatives to attend the March 27th parade showing off Myanmar’s modern war machines – mostly imported from Russia and China over the past decade, to the tune of $2.4 billion.

The Myanmar military has been terrorizing civilians since a coup two months earlier. On the day of the parade, soldiers killed over 90 people for protesting military rule, including a 5-year-old boy and three teenagers. An estimated 564 people have been killed in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup.

At least 550 people killed by Myanmar's military since February coup, says advocacy group

CNN
By Sandi Sidhu and Salai TZ, CNN
April 4, 2021

UN envoy says a 'bloodbath is imminent' in Myanmar 04:51

(CNN)At least 550 people have been killed by Myanmar's military in the aftermath of a coup which overthrew the elected government on February 1, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group based in neighboring Thailand.

Security officials have responded to dissent with a brutal crackdown and detained thousands, including at least 11 people arrested in Myanmar's biggest city Yangon Friday, minutes after being interviewed by CNN journalists.

The CNN team visited the Ten Miles bazaar in Yangon's Insein township, where they interviewed a number of local residents. Among the interviewees were two women who raised the three-finger protest salute.

Myanmar's military junta has reportedly killed at least 43 children since coup

abc News

Morgan Winsor
2 April 2021,


"This is a nightmare scenario unfolding."

LONDON -- At least 43 children have been reportedly killed by armed forces in Myanmar in the two months since the military junta seized power, according to international humanitarian group Save the Children, which described the situation as "a nightmare scenario unfolding."

"We are shocked that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks, despite repeated calls to protect children from harm," Save the Children said in a statement Wednesday. "It is clear that Myanmar is no longer a safe place for children."

Overall, at least 543 people -- adults and children -- have been killed by authorities since the Feb. 1 coup, though the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights organization based in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

MORE: US orders some diplomats to evacuate Myanmar amid deadly crackdown on protesters

US ratchets up pressure on Myanmar’s military after its bloodiest weekend since the coup

VOX

Alex Ward@AlexWardVoxalex.ward@vox.com 

Mar 29, 2021,

Reports indicate Myanmar’s junta killed about 140 people over the weekend. The Biden administration is responding with trade restrictions.


A relative cries during the funeral of a protester in Myanmar on March 29. AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration is stepping up its actions to punish Myanmar’s ruling military junta in the wake of a bloody weekend targeting civilians protesting against the February military coup.

On Saturday, the military commemorated Armed Forces Day by killing about 140 people — including six children — in 44 cities and towns amid nationwide peaceful protests, according to local reports and activists. One of the children, 11-year-old Aye Myat Thu, was buried with her drawings and toys as her family mourned beside her.

US and allies sanction Myanmar's military for violent repression of protesters

CNN
By Nicole Gaouette, 
March 22, 2021

Washington (CNN)US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new sanctions against members of Myanmar's military on Monday for the ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy protests since the military seized power in a February 1 coup.

The penalties were the second set that the US announced in coordination with allies on Monday. Earlier in the day, the US and European Union announced human rights sanctions against China for its ongoing repression in Xinjiang province, including of Uyghur Muslims.

Myanmar’s military on ‘killing spree’ against protesters: Amnesty

Aljazeera
11 Mar 2021

New report finds evidence the military is using battlefield weapons and conflict-hardened troops against peaceful protesters.

Riot police hold their firearms as they face-off with protesters in the capital, Naypyidaw on Monday [Stringer/AFP]

The Myanmar military is using lethal tactics and an arsenal of battlefield weapons to carry out a “killing spree” against peaceful protesters who oppose the February 1 coup, Amnesty International said on Thursday after analysing video and photographic evidence from the past few weeks of mass protests.

The cache of 55 video clips offer visual proof of the “systematic and premeditated killings”, Amnesty said in a report on Thursday, as it called on the UN Security Council and the international community to take action to halt the violence.

Myanmar's military to pay Israeli-Canadian lobbyist $2m to explain 'real situation' to US following coup

SKY NEWS

Wednesday 10 March 2021 

Former arms dealer Ari Ben-Menashe will "assist" in explaining the army's coup situation to the US and other countries.

Some 1,900 people have been arrested since 1 February when Myanmar's generals seized power

An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar's military will be paid $2m (£1.4m) to help explain the "real situation" to the US and other countries, documents filed with the US Justice Department show.

It comes after more than 60 protesters have been killed and 1,900 people arrested since 1 February when Myanmar's generals seized power and began detaining civilian leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

Former arms dealer Ari Ben-Menashe and his firm, Dickens & Madson Canada, will represent Myanmar's military government in Washington, as well as lobby Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Russia, and international bodies like the United Nations, according to a consultancy agreement.

Unchecked Power: How Did Myanmar’s Military Stage A Coup D’Etat?

The Organisation for World Peace
March 1, 2021

On the 1st of February, Myanmar’s military, also known as the Tatmadaw, planned a calculated coup d’état to overthrow Myanmar’s ruling political party called the National League for Democracy (NLD). The Tatmadaw arrested Aung San Suu Kyi who is the leader of the NLD, president Win Myint as well as other government officials. Their whereabouts are unknown at this point of time. The military has declared a one-year state of emergency and has transferred all legislative, executive and judicious power to the military’s commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing, mastermind behind the 2017 genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The Tatmadaw have blocked access to the busiest cities in Myanmar, Naypyitaw and Yangon. The military has cut internet connections and blocked domestic and international channels from being broadcasted. In a show of resistance, the people of Yangon have paraded to the streets at night, banging their pots and pans, staging a carcerolazo against the military. Al Jazeera described it as a “nocturnal cacophony” pulsing through the city.

Facebook Limits Spread Of Posts From Myanmar’s Military Government

Forbes

Rachel Sandler

Forbes Staff
Business

I cover breaking news.

TOPLINE 

Facebook said Thursday night it would reduce the spread of content from Myanmar’s military, taking its most aggressive step yet to moderate content as tensions rise following a coup earlier this month.

A woman uses her mobile phone to check Facebook in Yangon on February 4,2021 as Myanmar's generals ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGE

KEY FACTS

• Calling the situation in Myanmar an “emergency,” Facebook said it will reduce the distribution of all posts from military-run accounts and pages because they have “continued to spread misinformation.”

'You messed with the wrong generation': the young people resisting Myanmar’s military

openDemocracy

Judith Beyer

11 February 2021

Since the coup, social media has become an essential tool for exchanging knowledge and experience between generations

A family displays the three-fingered salute used by protesters in Myanmar against the military's recent seizure of power | Anonymous

When Myanmar’s military announced on 1 February that they had taken control of the country, civilians of all ages began to coordinate their resistance. Within a remarkably short amount of time, a new social movement was born, and people were soon pooling resources online under hashtags such as #civildisobediencemovement, #hearthevoicesofMyanmar and #rejectmilitarycoup.

This would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. Myanmar has had one of the fastest-growing telecom markets worldwide, which went from virtually nothing in the 2000s to a penetration rate of about 125% in 2020. While there was only one local operator in the beginning, with pricey SIM cards sold through a lottery system, several domestic and international companies now offer products. Within only five years, mobile phone signals have come to reach 90% of the country’s territory.

Myanmar's military companies should be sanctioned

Aljazeera  
by Yanghee Lee & Isabel Todd 
26 Nov 2019

 

Business with military companies in Myanmar would only further empower the army.  

 

Rohingya refugees gather to mark the second anniversary of the exodus at the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, August 25, 2019 [File: Rafiqur Rahman/Reuters]

 

During the optimistic years that ultimately led to the National League for Democracy forming a government in 2016, the international community confirmed its faith in Myanmar's transition from military rule by lifting a succession of economic sanctions that had been imposed on the country. But there were warnings that this response came too soon.

Myanmar’s Military Is Only Hurting Itself

Foreign Policy ( FP )

Elise Carlson-Rainer, Anish Goel

November 8, 2019,

Argument

Members of the Myanmar military march in formation during a parade to mark the country's 74th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on March 27. Thet Aung/AFP/Getty Images

The genocide of the Rohingya, and the exodus of 700,000 of them in the face of persecution by the Myanmar military, is now public knowledge. Rohingya refugees have lived mainly in camps in Bangladesh for the past two years. But it is less well-known that an additional 600,000 Rohingya still remain in the Rakhine state of Myanmar—and they are perhaps even more at risk than those who were forced to flee.