At least five opposition rebels have been killed after days of clashes in Burma, an anti-junta militia claimed on Sunday, while the UK and US condemned military violence against them. civilians.
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"
At least five of our members have been killed and more than ten injured
" this week, said a spokesperson for the Chinland Defense Force (CDF), a militia formed in the town of Mindat, which has become a hotspot in the country. unrest in the western state of Chin. According to this spokesperson, who does not wish to be identified, five residents of Mindat were also arrested by the army.
The country has been in turmoil since Burmese generals toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on February 1, sparking a massive uprising that authorities have sought to suppress by force. Rebels have created local militias equipped with homemade weapons to protect their towns from security forces, who have killed at least 790 civilians, according to a local watch group. With mobile data blocked across the country, information about the fighting is slow to come out, and verification on the ground is made more difficult as residents fear reprisals.
The CDF spokesman told AFP that militia fighters set fire to several army trucks and ambushed reinforcing troops, while the military attacked the town from there. 'artillery. On Sunday, the CDF had withdrawn into the jungle, he said. "
But we will be back to attack soon
," he said. “
We only have homemade weapons. It was not enough
”. He added that residents who remained in Mindat - under martial law since Thursday - were afraid to leave their homes for fear of being targeted by the military.
The embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom on Saturday called on security forces to end the violence in the city of more than 40,000 inhabitants. "
The use by the army of weapons of war against civilians, including this week in Mindat, is a further demonstration of the extremities to which the regime is ready to stoop in order to stay in power
", denounced the U.S. Embassy in a tweet on Saturday.
The British embassy has ruled that the violence in Mindat "
cannot be justified
". "
Evidence of atrocities must be sent to the (UN Independent Investigation Mechanism for Burma) so that the perpetrators can be held accountable,
" she tweeted. State newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on Sunday that a military court would be convened to try "
perpetrators of terrorist attacks
" in Mindat.
