Myanmar poet turned rebel leader seeks new territory; worries about 'ephemeral revolutionaries'

autotldr Bot , 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

---

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Poet turned militia leader Maung Saungkha, one of the most prominent figures fighting for democracy in Myanmar, says his armed group plans to start carving out territory in the country’s heartlands to confront the junta more directly.

Maung Saungkha said the move is a key strategic aim for his Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) - a militia formed in the wake of the junta’s February 2021 coup - now that it has gained training from allies and battle experience in the country’s borderlands.

Maung Saungkha said the BPLA wants to work with the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) - the armed wing of the National Unity Government formed from the remnants of Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s administration that is seeking to supplant the junta.

Bamar dominance has long been resented by Myanmar’s many minorities but Maung Saungkha’s background has helped the BPLA forge strong ties with other ethnic armed organisations, delicate work seen as critical for the resistance.

But, to have greater impact, they need to move “beyond creating confusion and disorder” in urban areas and work together to seize strategic sites, she said, adding their efforts were impeded by competition between armed groups for weapons and resources.

Brigadier General Nyo Tun Aung, the AA’s deputy commander-in-chief, said in a letter to Reuters that Maung Saungkha has built “good and close relationships” with leaders of “ethnic revolutionary organisations.”

---

I’m a bot and I’m open source!