An alliance of groups opposed to Myanmar’s military junta said Thursday that two military installations were targeted with a drone attack in the capital, Naypyitaw.
The National Unity Government, or NUG, said in a statement that the People's Defense Force used drones to attack targets including a military headquarters and an airbase in one of the most heavily guarded locations in the country.
The ruling junta was cited by The Associated Press as saying around a dozen drones were destroyed or seized and that there were no casualties. The NUG said there were reports of casualties.
Many details of the Thursday incident could not be independently verified, but people who live near the strike area told AP that they were not aware of an attack. Government photos showed only crashed drones.
The People's Defense Force is the armed wing of the civilian-led NUG. The NUG considers itself the county’s legitimate power. The junta, however, has been fighting to contain uprisings and stabilize the economy.
Myanmar has been embroiled in chaos since the military's seizure of power from the democratically elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The coup sparked peaceful demonstrations across the nation that were met with aggressive security forces, which escalated into more violent conflict.
Rakhine violence
At the U.N. Security Council, diplomats were briefed Thursday on the escalation in violence in Rakhine State between the military and the Arakan Army - a powerful ethnic armed group based in Rakhine - since an informal cease-fire collapsed in November.
“The Arakan Army has reportedly gained territorial control over most of central Rakhine and seeks to expand to northern Rakhine, where many Rohingya remain,” U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari said.
He said desperate minority Rohingya Muslims were fleeing the territory, many taking dangerous, sometimes deadly boat journeys across the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh in August 2017 as the military launched a scorched-earth campaign in response to attacks by Rohingya militants that killed a dozen police officers. A 2018 U.N. fact-finding mission said estimates of 10,000 Rohingya killed in the offensive were conservative.
The humanitarian situation in Myanmar has further deteriorated. More than 2.8 million people are displaced, 90% of them since the 2021 military coup. U.N. humanitarian official Lisa Doughten told the council that hunger is growing across the country as food prices surge and access to markets is disrupted.
Doughten said aid workers need safe and unhindered access and noted that from January 2022 to February this year, more than 155 humanitarians have been arrested or detained by various parties.
“We cannot deliver assistance if aid workers are not safe,” she said. “Intensified armed conflict, administrative restrictions and violence against aid workers all remain key barriers that are limiting humanitarian assistance from reaching vulnerable people.”
Several council members expressed concern about the military authorities’ recent implementation of a national conscription law, which makes men ages 18 to 45 and women ages 18 to 35 eligible to be drafted into the army for two years.
“Youth are left with the option of either fleeing or taking part in violence,” said South Korean Ambassador Joonkook Hwang.
U.S. envoy Robert Wood said Myanmar has become a hub for transnational organized crime, is the world’s largest opium producer, and is a driver of several refugee crises. In addition, he said, the military has carried out nearly 600 airstrikes across the country since the cease-fire ended in November.
“It is time for this council to take action,” Wood said, urging the council to restrict the military’s access to jet fuel to lessen its ability to carry out airstrikes.
China’s deputy ambassador, Geng Shuang, said a delegation from Beijing is currently in Myanmar for mediation efforts on the Rakhine situation.
In June 2023, the U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy for Myanmar stepped down. Khiari said Antonio Guterres would name a new envoy “in the coming days.”
Tommy Walker, Claire Schnatterbeck and U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, and Reuters.
