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CHIANG MAI: Myanmar’s ethnic armed factions will not stand by and do nothing if military junta forces continue to kill protesters, the leader of one of the main armed groups said on Saturday (March 27).
At least 16 protesters were killed by security forces across Myanmar on Saturday, according to local media and witnesses, as the junta celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day.
READ: 16 protesters killed in Myanmar as junta demonstrates force for Armed Forces Day
“Myanmar Armed Forces Day is not an armed forces day, it is more like the day people were killed,” General Yawd Serk, chairman of the Shan State / State Army Restoration Council, told Reuters. Shan – South (RCSS).
General Yawd Serk, chairman of the Restoration of Shan State (RCSS / SSA), speaks during an interview with Reuters in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on March 27, 2021 (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun).
“It is not for the protection of democracy as well, it is how they damage democracy,” he added.
“If they continue to shoot at protesters and intimidate people, I think all ethnic groups would not stand by and do nothing.”
The RCSS, which operates near the Thai border, is one of several armed ethnic groups that have denounced the coup and promised to support the protesters. Myanmar’s roughly two dozen ethnic armed factions control vast swathes of the country.
Addressing a previous military parade, the leader of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing, said that the army’s job was to protect the people and promote democracy, and reiterated his promise of a new election held after the army took the power on February 1.
The board says the Nov. 8 vote, overwhelmingly won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), was rigged, forcing the military to take control.
READ: Myanmar junta warns protesters that they risk being shot in the head: state television
The latest deaths would bring the total death toll to more than 340 in the army’s efforts to end widespread opposition to the coup.
Many protesters are calling for the formation of a federal army and Yawd Serk said he supported it.
“The armed ethnic groups now have a similar enemy and we need to join hands and hurt those who are hurting people. We need to unite,” he said.
