The latest killing of greater than 20 Rohingya Muslims in Minbya township of Rakhine, and the razing of cities in Hsihseng in Southern Shan State, underscore the damaging capability of the SAC’s firepower, buttressed by widespread use of heavy artillery and elevated use of weaponised drones.
In latest days, there have been a number of air strikes in 4 completely different states throughout Myanmar. According to an account from Karenni State, civilians have been bombed 32 instances in two hours.
Amnesty International reported in late January that a number of jet gasoline gross sales to Myanmar’s army in 2023 have been facilitated via storage services in Vietnam by way of Chinese and Liberian flagged tankers, however whose possession couldn’t be decided.
On Feb 1, Australia imposed sanctions on three Myanmar firms supplying the army with aviation gasoline. US sanctions particularly concentrating on Myanmar’s international arms provides have been imposed commonly for the reason that coup, with particular sanctions on jet gasoline provides in March and August 2023.
These measures ought to be coordinated and expanded in mild of the surge in air strikes.
David Scott Mathieson is an unbiased analyst engaged on battle and human rights points on Myanmar. This commentary first appeared on Lowy Institute’s weblog, The Interpreter.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/myanmar-civil-war-opposition-forces-sac-arms-air-strike-4239806
