The US yesterday ordered the departure of nonessential diplomats from Myanmar amid growing violence following a military coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Daily protests demanding the restoration of the elected government have been met with a military crackdown that has left more than 520 civilians dead in the weeks since the coup on Feb. 1.
The junta’s violent response has triggered international condemnation and threats of retaliation from some of Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armed groups.
Photo: AP
The US Department of State said that it was ordering the departure of “non-emergency US government employees and their family members.”
The decision was taken to protect the safety and security of staff and their families, the department said.
World powers have repeatedly condemned the violent crackdown on dissent and hit top junta cadres with sanctions.
However, the pressure has not swayed the generals.
Armed Forces Day on Saturday last week saw the biggest loss of life so far, with at least 107 people killed.
The spiraling bloodshed has angered some of Myanmar’s 20 or so armed ethnic groups, who control large areas of territory mostly in border regions.
Three of them — the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army — on Tuesday threatened to join protesters’ fight unless the military reined in its crackdown.
While the three groups are yet to act on their warning, two other outfits — the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin Independence Army — have stepped up attacks on military and police in the past few days.
On Tuesday, a police station in Bago was reportedly hit with a rocket attack that injured five officers, although it was not clear who was responsible.
The KNU, one of the biggest rebel groups, took over an army base in eastern Kayin State at the weekend, prompting the military to respond with airstrikes.
Further strikes were launched on Tuesday, but Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the KNU’s head of foreign affairs, said that the group would continue its position of “strongly supporting people’s movement against [the] military coup.”
The KNU’s Fifth Brigade put out a statement on Tuesday condemning the airstrikes and warning that it had no option but to “confront these serious threats” posed by the military.
About 3,000 people fled through the jungle to seek safety across the border in Thailand after the weekend strikes.
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs late on Tuesday said that about 2,300 people had returned to Myanmar, while about 550 remained in Thailand.
Some Karen have accused the Thai authorities of pushing people back and blocking UN refugee officials from the area.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said that there was “no influx” of refugees, and that the kingdom’s authorities had not “scared them off with guns or sticks.”
Some Karen people injured in the weekend strikes sought medical treatment on the Thai side of the border — the most serious case was a 15-year-old with a collapsed lung and broken rib.
Thai police said they had intercepted 10 parcels containing 112 grenades and 6,000 rounds of ammunition in Chiang Rai Province that had been destined for Tachileik, a border town in Myanmar.
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