Myanmar’s junta is under pressure in a way it hasn’t been in decades.
Challenging its military might are armed civilian groups known as the People’s Defense Force — a grassroots insurgency made up of citizens including farmers, doctors, teachers, home-makers and engineers — all determined to overthrow the generals who took control of the country in a coup just over a year ago. Mass street protests and a deadly crackdown followed, and on past history, that might have been the end of it.
But it wasn’t. There is now debate over whether Myanmar is now in the grip of a civil war. Deadly battles are no longer limited to border hotspots. Instead they’re fought throughout the nation, with cities like the financial capital Yangon and Mandalay witnessing assassination campaigns against junta members and bombing attacks. They hit a Chinese-backed electricity facility in the northwest last month.