The leader of the Burma military junta announces that he will “annihilate” the opposition

The leader of the Burmese military junta, General Min Aung Hlainwarned this Sunday that the Army, which has held power since the coup a year ago, “will annihilate” the opposition forces, whom he described as “terrorists”.

This threat has been made in the speech given on the occasion of the day of the Armed Forces, in which he has also pointed out: “We will not negotiate with the terrorist groups that are killing civilians. We will annihilate them until peace and order are restoredAccording to the transcript provided by the Eleven Myanmar news portal.

The parade organized by the military to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the Burmese Army, known as Tatmadawhas coincided with the demonstrations that at the same time were taking place in streets throughout the country to protest against the military regime established after the February 1, 2021 coupwhich led to the imprisonment of political leaders such as the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, in prison ever since.

1,707 dead

The Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners in Burma has denied the accusations of “terrorism” that the military regime has launched against the opposition and calculates that the security forces have taken the lives of 1,707 people, since the day of the uprisingwhile another 12,970 have been arbitrarily arrested, according to the EFE news agency.

The European Union, the USA and other powers such as Canada and the United Kingdom today requested in a joint statement that the Army “Cease your violence and restore Burma’s path to democracy.” In the statement they remember all the victims of the violence of the military junta in the almost 14 months that have elapsed since the coup, including the hundreds of deaths that occurred a year ago, when the security forces they repressed with blood and fire the protests against the regime throughout the country while the military parade was taking place.

Economic sanctions

This international manifesto was published one day after US, Canada and UK announced new economic sanctions against military leaders and businessmen linked to the Burmese Army and sent a message to the countries that continue to provide assistance to the military regime in Burma, asking them to “support the Burmese people by stopping their sale or shipment of weapons and military equipment”referring to China and Russia, which he did not name.

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The possible presence at the parade of the Russian Deputy Defense Minister, Alexander Fomin, who attended the parade a year ago, had created expectation, but finally did not attend.

Burma has been plunged into a deep social, political and humanitarian crisis since the coup that ended democratic rule and imposed a regime of violent repression of dissidence which has exacerbated the armed conflict in the country. The Army justifies the coup for alleged fraud during the general elections of November 2020, whose result has been annulled and in which the NLD swept through, as it did in 2015, with the endorsement of international observers.