International For the first time, Myanmar forces flee into Bangladesh during fighting with an ethnic armed group

[LeonardoBjj]

BY JULHAS ALAM
Updated 3:56 PM BRT, February 5, 2024


DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — More than 100 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police have fled their posts and taken shelter in Bangladesh to escape fighting between Myanmar security forces and an ethnic minority army, an official with Bangladesh’s border agency said Monday.

It is the first time that Myanmar forces have been known to flee into Bangladesh since an alliance of ethnic minority armies in Myanmar launched an offensive against the military government late last year.

Shariful Islam, spokesperson for Border Guard Bangladesh, said the Myanmar forces entered over the past two days during fighting with the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh.

The 103 troops entered through the Tombru border in Bandarban district, he said.

“They have been disarmed and taken to safe places,” he said.

Myanmar’s military government had no immediate comment.

Also on Monday, Bangladeshi media said two persons — a Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya refugee— were killed in shelling from Myanmar after a house in Bandarban was hit.

Bangladesh’s law minister, Anisul Huq, told Parliament that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had instructed the military and paramilitary border guards to have patience in dealing with the tensions across the border.

“Bangladesh is observing the situation closely and steps will be taken,” the United News of Bangladesh agency quoted him as saying.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said Monday that Myanmar’s ambassador to Bangladesh, U. Aung Kyaw Moe, and Deputy Foreign Minister, U. Lwin Oo, told Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they would take back their troops sheltered in Bangladesh.

The ministry also sent a “note verbale” to the Myanmar envoy in Dhaka, protesting bullets and mortar shells from Myanmar landing in Bangladesh.

The Arakan Army is the military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority that seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It has been attacking army outposts in the western state since November.

It is part of an alliance of ethnic minority armies that launched an offensive in October and gained strategic territory in Myanmar’s northeast bordering China. Its success was seen as a major defeat for the military government, which seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and is now embroiled in a wide-ranging civil war.

The alliance, called the Three Brotherhood Alliance, said in a statement Monday that the Arakan Army had attacked two border outposts in Maungdaw township in Rakhine state and captured one of them on Sunday.

Khaing Thukha, an Arakan Army spokesperson, said that fighting continued Monday at the second outpost.

Bangladesh shares a 271-kilometer (168-mile) border with Myanmar and hosts more than 1 million Muslim Rohingya refugees, many of whom fled from Buddhist-dominated Myanmar starting in August 2017 when its military launched a brutal “clearance operation” against them following attacks by an insurgent group.

https://apnews.com/article/banglade...rebel-border-5199be21644fe30dba5387ade83e922d

 

[Hdfi]

Diversity at its finest.

 

[Siver!]

I've lost track of Myanmar.

Are the current ruling party still a junta opposed to democracy?

 

[Islam Imamate]

I've lost track of Myanmar.

Are the current ruling party still a junta opposed to democracy?

When the junta took over years ago the democratic government declared an armed resistance. Initially it was very disorganized, poorly funded, and not trained but because the ethnic resistance groups in the periphery have experience fighting the junta some of them joined forces with the democratic uprising to help supply arms and training, seemingly in exchange for some kind of autonomy in their region should the uprising succeed. My understanding is that the junta is really feeling the pressure and could very well lose the civil war.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Also friendly reminder that Israel has supplied this government with arms until at least early 2022 which is a year after the latest coup and about five or six years since the campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya started. Some other countries that share this illustrious distinction are Russia, China, and North Korea.

 

[Siver!]

When the junta took over years ago the democratic government declared an armed resistance. Initially it was very disorganized, poorly funded, and not trained but because the ethnic resistance groups in the periphery have experience fighting the junta some of them joined forces with the democratic uprising to help supply arms and training, seemingly in exchange for some kind of autonomy in their region should the uprising succeed. My understanding is that the junta is really feeling the pressure and could very well lose the civil war.

Thanks for that, II.

I know this is a redundant and reductive question, but is this likely to reach a positive conclusion?

 

[LeonardoBjj]

I've lost track of Myanmar.

Are the current ruling party still a junta opposed to democracy?

- I will log in my pc and post some news i chose nothing starting threads about Myanmar. But basically, all bad news.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Diversity at its finest.

What do you mean by this?

Thanks for that, II.

I know this is a redundant and reductive question, but is this likely to reach a positive conclusion?

I haven't followed it closely but based on what I have read, including the OP article, its not looking really good for the junta. They might be able to avoid being completely overrun but at the same time they have lost territory to the uprising and have become a pariah state with the uprising seemingly gaining momentum.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-...ool-religion-711fcd7dcfdd2b899ba311c57e909bd2

https://www.theguardian.com/global-...0/myanmar-military-coup-junta-min-aung-hlaing

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ds-china-telecoms-scam-case-fraud-trafficking

https://www.theguardian.com/global-...le-take-part-in-strike-against-military-junta

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240206_37/

https://www.tbsnews.net/features/pa...rn-national-security-threat-bangladesh-788042

https://indianexpress.com/article/i...yanmar-border-surveillance-amit-shah-9147017/

https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/leave-immediately-india-to-citizens-in-myanmars-rakhine-5006607

 

[Videer]

Junta has steadily been losing ground

 

[LeonardoBjj]

9 UN Security Council members urge a halt to airstrikes by Myanmar’s military​

BY EDITH M. LEDERER
Updated 3:42 AM BRT, February 6, 2024

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nine members of the United Nations Security Council condemned “indiscriminate” airstrikes by Myanmar’s military against civilians before an envoy briefed the council Monday as part of regional efforts to implement a peace plan that has so far been largely ineffective.

The plan, adopted in April 2021 shortly after the military seized power in a takeover that sparked a civil war, calls for the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by a special envoy from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties.

Veteran diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun — the special envoy to Myanmar from this year’s ASEAN chair, Laos, and a former U.N. ambassador — addressed a closed council meeting on behalf of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Kittikhoun committed to implementing ASEAN’s “five-point consensus” for peace in Myanmar through continued “quiet diplomacy,” according to a council diplomat familiar with the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

The military leadership in Myanmar has so far ignored the plan, and violence and the humanitarian crisis in the country have been growing at a rapid pace.

Before the council meeting, nine of the 15 council members stood before reporters to support a statement read by Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward, which echoed ASEAN’s call urging Myanmar’s armed forces, “in particular, to cease its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.”



The military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, and is facing an armed pro-democracy resistance movement that is assisted by ethnic minority fighting forces. The military stepped up airstrikes after the three ethnic minority armed groups launched a major offensive in late October, seizing towns in the country’s northeast, along with major border crossings for trade with China.

The nine council members — Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States — said that, three years after the military takeover, more than 18 million people need humanitarian aid and 2.6 million remain displaced.

At an ASEAN ministerial meeting on Jan. 29, Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith told reporters that Thailand was moving ahead with plans to provide more humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. The nine nations reiterated the council’s appeal for improved humanitarian access.

They expressed increasing concern at the situation in Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh, where more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims fled starting in August 2017, when the military in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar launched a brutal “clearance operation” against them following attacks by the insurgent Arakan Army.

The Arakan Army is part of the alliance of ethnic minority fighters. A Bangladesh official said Monday that more than 100 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police fled fighting with the Arakan Army in Rakhine over the past two days and entered Bangladesh, the first time Myanmar forces have been known to flee the country since the ethnic minority armies’ offensive began.

The nine council nations expressed increasing concern that the Rohingya still in Myanmar, who have faced systematic discrimination for decades, are now contending with more restrictions on freedom of movement, as well as the denial of access to medicine and medical care. They demanded the implementation of the Security Council’s first-ever resolution on Myanmar, passed in December 2022, which calls for an immediate end to violence and immediate release of all “arbitrarily detained” prisoners, including Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint.

Myanmar’s U.N. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who still represents Suu Kyi’s ousted government, urged the Security Council on Monday to adopt a stronger, enforceable resolution, saying, “Democratic forces are gaining ground and the military junta is losing every day.”

The nine council members said they remain deeply concerned at the lack of progress on the resolution’s call for all parties to respect human rights, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, and “the democratic will and interests” of people in Myanmar.

The council diplomat said there was no unanimity at the meeting Monday on next steps, though there was broad concern at the escalating situation across the country with the military fighting on several fronts, the risk of atrocities in Rakhine, and the need for better humanitarian access.

The United States pushed for an enforceable Security Council resolution to prevent Myanmar from getting jet fuel, the council diplomat said.

The U.S., U.K., European Union and others imposed sanctions in 2023 on the provision of aviation fuel to Myanmar, but Amnesty International reported Jan. 31 that new evidence suggests Myanmar’s military is using new tactics to evade sanctions.

The human rights organization called 2023 the worst year for airstrikes in Myanmar since the takeover, and said at least seven shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar were directly linked to a storage unit in Vietnam, an ASEAN member.

According to the council diplomat, China, which has close ties to Myanmar, emphasized the need to give ASEAN’s efforts time and space. Russia, which also has links to Myanmar, reiterated that the council shouldn’t be interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-...y-airstrikes-136dc49ecffbe7b8204c57a9c94a70d0

 

[Hdfi]

What do you mean by this?

That this is an ethnic conflict.

 

[Islam Imamate]

That this is an ethnic conflict.

What is the point being made about diversity here? I think the real problem with Myanmar is that they have a military dictatorship and not so much the diversity but maybe that's just me.

 

[Flower2dPeople]

So they kicked out muslims(Rohingyas) out of their country and now had to fled to one because their asses are getting handed to them?

The irony.

Fuck them. Fuck Myanmar's military government from the bottom of my heart.

 

[Videer]

Arakan Army shows some spoils of war captured from two junta bases they took over in Rakhine state.

Looks like a steady grind but still missing those massive hauls like we saw in Syria when opposition captured Mahin weapons depot, Regiment 121, Brigade 93 and the absolutely humongous amount of ordnance captured by IS when they took over Ayyash weapons depot.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Facing setbacks against resistance forces, Myanmar’s military government activates conscription law​

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Saturday activated for the first time a decade-old conscription law that makes young men and women subject to at least two years of military service if called up, effective immediately. The announcement of the measure on state television amounts to a major, though tacit, admission that the army is struggling to contain the nationwide armed resistance against its rule.

Under the 2010 People’s Military Service Law, passed under a previous military government, men aged 18 to 45 and women 18 to 35 can be drafted into the armed forces for two years, extendable to five years during national emergencies. The upper age of people in the population at large subject to conscription is 35 for men and 27 for women, and the higher age ranges apply to men and women in certain professional categories, such as medical doctors and engineers, and their service term is three years.

The current ruling military council, called the State Administration Council, came to power in 2021 after ousting the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The law has been activated in the wake of the army’s biggest setbacks since the countrywide conflict erupted after the takeover. A surprise offensive launched last October by an alliance of armed ethnic organization in less than three months captured a large swathe of territory in northeastern Myanmar along the Chinese border.

The rout inspired resistance forces in other parts of the country to launch their own attacks. In recent weeks, fighting in the western state of Rakhine caused hundreds of state security personnel to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

The army faces two enemies, the pro-democracy forces formed after the army takeover, and better-trained and equipped ethnic minority armed groups that have been battling for greater autonomy for decades. There are alliances between the resistance groups.

Evading conscription is punishable by three to five years in prison and a fine. Members of religious orders are exempt, while civil servants and students can be granted temporary deferments.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson of the military government, said in the statement phoned to MRTV state television that the law has been applied due to Myanmar’s current situation.

He said activating the law could help preventing war through a show of strength to enemies.

“So what we want to say is that the responsibility of national defense is not only the responsibility of the soldier. It is the responsibility of all people in all parts of the country. National security is everyone’s responsibility. That is why I would like to tell everyone to serve with pride under the enacted law of people’s military service,” Zaw Min Tun said.

The military government’s forces were stretched thin by the recent upsurge in resistance activity. They were already believed depleted by casualties, desertions and defections, though there are no reliable numbers of their scale.

In September last year, the defense ministry of the National Unity Government, the leading political organization of the resistance that acts as a shadow government, said that more than 14,000 troops have defected from the military since the 2021 seizure of power.

There have recently been reports in independent and pro-resistance Myanmar media of forcible recruitment of young men in urban areas.

“Although the extent of recruitment is unclear, reports have spread on social media of men being detained and forced to join the army even in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, prompting warnings to avoid going out at night in the city,” the online magazine Frontier Myanmar reported last month.

The 2021 military takeover was met by widespread nonviolent protests and civil disobedience. But the confrontations escalated into violence after security forces used deadly force against the protesters, giving birth to organized armed resistance that has spiraled into civil war.


https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-...conscription-45138c3c465609ff4b4fb39c696252d7

 

[NoSmilez]

So they kicked out muslims(Rohingyas) out of their country and now had to fled to one because their asses are getting handed to them?

The irony.

Fuck them. Fuck Myanmar's military government from the bottom of my heart.

Nobody wants the Rohingyas. I saw some really sad Indo Aceh video where students were roughing up the refugees.