“Our only option”: Myanmar civilians take up arms to achieve democracy New conflicts

In the weeks following the February 1 military coup, Andrew staged millions across Myanmar to demonstrate peacefully to return to civilian rule.

Just two months later, a 27-year-old man was training to kill soldiers with a wooden hunting rifle in his hometown, Kayah state, on Myanmar’s southeastern border with Thailand.

“Before the coup, I couldn’t even kill an animal,” Andrew said, along with other resistance fighters interviewed by Al Jazeera, who preferred not to know his name for security reasons. “When I saw the military kill civilians, I felt very sad and worried … it occurred to me that I was fighting for the people against evil military dictators.”

Andrew is among civilians across the country, many of them young men, who have taken up arms to kill a military man who killed more than 860 people, mostly in protests against the coup, including more than 6,000 arrested and using tactics. torture and enforced disappearances since Aung San Suu Kyiko took over the elected government.

Some fighters have joined ethnic armed organizations bordering the country, where ethnic minorities have been fighting for decades against the Myanmar army, Tatmadaw, for self-determination and rights. Others, like Andrew, have joined some of the civilian defense forces that have emerged in cities and towns since the end of March.

But even though ethnic armed groups have had years to develop resources and capability, civil defense forces are mostly armed with single-shot hunting rifles and other household weapons, and many fighters have had little combat training.

In the face of a military with more than $ 2 billion in arms and 70 years of experience against civilians with 70 years of experience, the new revolutionaries told Al Jazeera they were ready to test the tests because they believed it was the only way to throw armed resistance. regime.

“We have staged national protests and launched a civil disobedience movement against the military with the aim of restoring civil democracy, but these methods alone have not worked,” said Neino, a former university professor currently leading the political arm of civil resistance. group in Chin State and neighboring Sagaing region. “We’ve done everything we can, and taking up arms is the only way to win that,” he added.

Salai Vako, a 23-year-old community development worker and resistance fighter, also in Chin State, began collecting hunting rifles in his native Mindat municipality, immediately after Tatmadaw began firing on protesters in mid-February.

“We hoped that people outside the village would fight for us, but that never happened,” he said.

“I never thought in my life that I would have a weapon … but I quickly changed my mind after hearing about the killings of innocent civilians across the country and especially in the plains. I couldn’t keep quiet. To avenge fallen heroes and show my solidarity, I decided to take up arms.”

Tatmadaw has responded to the armed resistance non-discriminatory air and ground attacks and hunger for aid, food and supplies for civilian populations, following long-standing patterns of violence in ethnic areas. Nearly 230,000 people have fled their homes since the coup; many hidden in the jungle.

In Kayah and neighboring Shan state, where civilian fighters joined local ethnic armed groups in a 10-day resistance in late May, more than 120 regime forces were killed, Tatmadaw said, killing humanitarian volunteers who are providing food aid. the displaced shot dead returned to the village to obtain rice and supplies. On May 24, regime forces fired artillery at a Catholic church that was sheltering more than 300 people and killing four of them.

June 9, a A UN expert has warned “Massive deaths caused by famine, disease and exposure” in Kayah state after more than 100,000 civilians displaced by Tatmadaw were cut off from access to food, water and medicine.

Salai Vakok’s Mindat municipality is also facing a major humanitarian emergency, with Tatmadaw attacking civilian areas in mid-May in response to civilian resistance and blocking the supply of food and water to displaced populations. He has also been accused of arresting civilians and using them as human shields to prevent resistance fighters.

Civil resistance fighters have clashed with a powerful army and accused them of “crimes against humanity” in the savage attacks on the Rohingya in 2017. [File: Stringer/EPA]

He said the attacks have strengthened his determination to continue fighting, but he has not been able to do so since he was wounded by artillery fire in last month’s attack. “When I recover, I have made a firm decision to continue fighting whatever the regime collapses,” he told Al Jazeera.

Guerrilla tactics

Urban resistance also seems to be growing, mainly due to young people who have gathered in underground networks after short training camps with ethnic armed groups in the jungle. When they return to the cities, they adopt guerrilla tactics, such as bombing, arson and murder, among others, whether they are informants or people who are in line with the military.

Frontier Myanmar news magazine reported that there are at least 10 rebel cell cities in major Myanmar cities, and Radio Free Asia has counted more than 300 explosions since the coup, mostly at police and administrative offices and other facilities linked to the regime.

“[The Tatmadaw] they oppress us with weapons. Should we kneel or fight? If we only face it with a three-finger salute, we will never get what we want, “said Gue Gue, a 29-year-old doctor and member of the Yangon underground resistance.” We are not elected armed; what we wanted in peace was achieved because we could not get it. “

He said he lives in constant fear of informants. “We have to live secretly in urban areas or they can kill us … We can’t sleep,” Gue Gue said.

Another concern of resistance fighters is their families: Since the coup, at least 76 people have been arrested by security forces for not being able to find the person they wanted to arrest, a human rights documentation team said.

“I told my parents that when the military was looking for me, they tried to convince me not to take up arms but I didn’t listen,” Salai Vakok said. He has severed ties with his family since joining the resistance, but May has heard that thousands of riots in Mindat have displaced him and are now hidden in the jungle.

Protesters in Mandalay armed with domestic weapons protested in April. More protesters are joining rebel forces because they see it as the only way to restore democracy [File: Stringer/EPA]

A committee representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), made up of elected MPs, announced on March 14 the right of civilians to defend themselves and the National Union Government (NUG) appointed by CRPH on May 5. announced the establishment The pioneer of the Federal Army, which would unite the country’s ethnic armed groups, the country’s ethnic armed groups and civil defense forces into a central command. At the moment, however, most groups are working independently or in smaller alliances.

NUG Interior Minister Khu Te Bu has told Al Jazeera that he expects fighting across the country to worsen in the coming weeks and months, but is concerned that civil defense forces are trapped and lacking enough training to defeat Tatmadaw.

“They’re using hand-made weapons, but they can’t protect people from so many years of preparing themselves and supplying weapons to a military man,” he said.

On May 26, the NUG announced a code of conduct. Aimed at all armed resistance groups, he says fighters should not harm civilians and minimize side damage.

Khu Te Bu says he hopes resistance groups can unite against an ordinary enemy, and that the NUG has an important role to play in keeping the groups firmly aware of the rules of war, including how to protect civilians and handle prisoners. of war.

Some protesters have sought basic training with ethnic armed organizations that have been fighting Tatmadaw for years [File: Kantarawaddy Times via AFP]

“[Resistance groups] it cannot break international rules because the military does not comply, “he said.” They must respond systematically to enemies … to protect human rights. “

With a lack of weapons and funds, civilian fighters say the NUG hopes to be able to provide human resources and material assistance in the near future. “If they really want to help us, they can send fighters or give them modern weapons or at least help them with food and products,” Salai Vako said.

As violence progresses and deaths and displacement increase, resistance fighters also hope that Myanmar will not disappear from the world’s attention.

“Myanmar is like a slaughterhouse now. People die every day like animals, ”Gue Gue said.