Burmese military torches one village after another to smoke out opponents

Chan-tha-ywa villages, in the centre of the country, victims of repeated attacks. Local nuns forced to flee to a camp for displaced people. Civilians tortured and killed daily by junts soldiers. Armed opposition rejects generals' demand to lay down their arms.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - Reports and images have arrived of new devastation carried out by the Burmese army in the village of Chan-tha-ywa, in the centre of the country. AsiaNews has learnt from local sources that on 8th June, the military set fire to homes there for the second time. The serious situation prompted some religious women to leave the area and take refuge in a camp for displaced people. The security forces of the coup junta continue to set fire to one block of flats after another: witnesses tell of civilians being tortured and killed on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the Popular Defence Forces and other coup resistance groups in February 2021 rejected the generals' call to lay down their arms and return to civilian life. The armed opposition has responded that it will continue the revolution until victory, reports The Irrawaddy.

Since the seizure of power by Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the Armed Forces, the country has plunged into a bloody civil war. The People's Defence Forces are an expression of the National Unity Government (NUG), the parallel executive formed by the opponents of the military regime. It is mostly composed of members of the National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the civilian government overthrown by the military.

According to NUG data, 259 People's Defence Forces are currently in action, deploying 80-100 thousand troops. There are also armed groups present in 250 municipalities and 400 guerrilla formations operating in close contact with the parallel government.