Wednesday, 05 May 2021_Myanmar's anti-coup government says it has formed a "people's defense force" to protect people from military attacks and violence directed by the junta, taking the country one step closer to civil war.
The so-called National Government, set up last month by an array of groups opposed to the military junta, said the defense force was formed as a precursor to a Federal Union Army.
The government said the force was responsible to "make effective reforms in the security sector in order to terminate the 70-year-long civil war," and to deal with "the military attacks and violence from [the] state administration council on the people."
The unity government also pledged to end violence, restore democracy, and build a "federal democratic union."
The military junta has been ruling the country for the last three months, since ousting the civil government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1.
Defying the junta, people have been protesting on the streets, calling for the release of the deposed leader and other politicians and the restoration of the civil government.
Thousands of people have so far been arrested under the junta, including 3,677 people who have been sentenced or are in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group.
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