Since the National Unity Government (NUG) declared a “people’s defensive war” against the military junta last Tuesday, conflict has escalated in moves of desperation and violence all over the country.
In Sagaing’s Myaung Township, fighters from the local People’s Defence Force (PDF) raided a police station, leading to three days of clashes and junta soldiers burning an entire village. The village, Kyauk Yit, had been abandoned by nearly all of its residents after the NUG’s announcement on Tuesday. Villagers who had remained in the village, including ten elderly people, were thankfully able to escape by crawling out of their homes. The village burned for two hours.
One local PDF member told Myanmar Now that they had heard the military was threatening to burn the village down, but didn’t think they would actually go through with it. That member stated the burning of Kyauk Yit was evidence of the military’s desperation to gain control over the nation. Most villagers have not returned to Kyauk Yit to assess the damage yet.
In Magway, 14 homes in Hnan Khar village were set ablaze by soldiers. They raided the village, set the homes on fire, and fired shots into the village, then promptly left. The People’s Defense Force in the area was unable to hold off the soldiers due to a lack of weapons and ammunition. Hnan Khar’s villagers are struggling without basic necessities, but are determined to continue to resist the military. Another 27 homes were burned in Htei Hlaw village, 20 of which burned to the ground. The soldiers clashed with PDF soldiers in the village, wounding three and killing a fourth before burning the village. The PDF fighter was twenty years old. The people returned to find him lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound in his chest.
In Northern Kayah State, a new unit in the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) was formed, called the Karenni Generation Z Army. Comprised of youths who fled to the borderland to receive military training, the unit is full of zeal and passion to fight for their futures and the futures of the generations coming up after them. The KNDF joined forces with the Karenni Army, another armed group from Kayah State, to fight in this war against their common enemy. They urge civilians to endure the difficulties of war, so they can finally defeat the military in the war they’ve been waging for the past 70 years.
With civil war fresh on the minds of all the people of Myanmar, the fire of the people has been rekindled. Conflict is on the rise and the military is desperate for control.
Prayer Requests
- Pray that the people of Myanmar — civilians and military alike — would be snatched from the fire by God’s mercy and find salvation and repentance.
- Pray that the people of Myanmar would be fueled by an eternal hope, and seek justice, righteousness, and forgiveness after God’s own heart.
