Ousted Myanmar Lawmakers Announce Defence Force

A group of ousted lawmakers who call themselves the “National Unity Government” (NUG) and are working underground to oppose the junta on Wednesday announced their own “people’s defence force” to “stop the use of violence against people”.

The NUG said in a statement that it is intended as a precursor to a “Federal Union Army”, referring to a long-touted idea of bringing anti-coup dissidents together with Myanmar’s ethnic rebel fighters into an army.

Some in the anti-coup movement have called for unity among Myanmar’s myriad rebel armed groups to defeat the military’s well-trained soldiers.

The country has been in turmoil since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a mass uprising of daily protests and a nationwide boycott from civil servants.

So far, nearly 770 people have been killed in deadly crackdowns, according to a local monitoring group — though the junta has a far lower death toll which it blames on “rioters”.

A few of the groups have condemned the military coup and the use of violence against unarmed civilians while some are also providing shelter and even training to dissidents who flee into their territories.

But the more than 20 groups which comprises disparate ethnic minorities have long distrusted the ethnic Bamar majority, including lawmakers affiliated with Suu Kyi’s government.

An official of the Karenni National Progressive Party, KNPP,  which has said it is sheltering anti-coup dissidents has expressed skepticism at the NUG announcement.

He said while the NUG has spoken with many rebel groups about a militia made up of civilians, he had no idea what their intentions are.