Myanmar Opposition Calls for ‘Defensive War’ Against Junta

On Tuesday, the National Unity Government (NUG) called on the population to join a "popular defensive war" against the Military Junta that took power through a coup on Feb. 1.

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"With the responsibility to protect people's life and property, the National Unity Government launches a popular defensive war against the Military Junta... Since this is a public revolution, all citizens of the entire Myanmar are rebelling against the government of military terrorists led by Min Aung Hlaing in every corner of the country," the NUG President Duwa Lashi La said.

The military had accepted free elections in Nov. 2015, in which the National League for Democracy party prevailed. The parliamentary experience in Myanmar ended with the coup, when the military regained power by overthrowing the government of Aung San Suu Kyi and imprisoning elected officials. About seven months have passed since that event, and now the country seems on the verge of civil war.

Duwa Lashi La encouraged the ethnic armed groups to assault the Army in any possible way, in order to maintain control of their lands. He also urged border guard forces, Junta-allied militias, individual soldiers, and police officers to leave the military council and side with the shadow government.

"Eight months of cruel killings, torture and arrests by the military have passed. Everyone knows the constant inhuman acts of war perpetrated by soldiers when they occupy houses, religious buildings, hospitals and schools," Duwa Lashi La said and ordered the opposition-organized militias, People's Defense Forces (PDF), to "target to control the Military Junta and its assets”.

The people of Myanmar were advised not to travel except in cases of absolute necessity, to stockpile food and medical supplies, and to assist PDF and civil resistance forces by informing them of the Junta's military operations. It is still unclear how the PDF will fight against a large, well-equipped Army. The NUG Defense Minister Yee Mon did not reveal the number of PDF fighters, although local sources claim that they are thousands.

Duwa Lashi La hopes that the revolution may not take long if all villages, towns, and cities carry out a simultaneous uprising on the basis of "unity, creativity, intelligence, passion, and perseverance."