Myanmar cell towers attacked after shadow government ‘war’ call

Soldiers stand next to military vehicles as people gather to protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, February 15, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

YANGON — Protesters have destroyed around a dozen military-owned communications towers in Myanmar, witnesses and reports said Wednesday, after the country’s self-proclaimed shadow government issued a call for a “defensive war” against the junta.

The country has been in chaos since the military seized power in February, sparking mass pro-democracy rallies followed by a deadly crackdown and renewed fighting with ethnic rebel militias in border areas.

More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 8,000 arrested, according to local observers.

Protesters said they targeted 11 mobile phone masts belonging to the military-owned Mytel, one of the country’s four main cell networks, in the town of Budalin in the central Sagaing region.

“Our intention is to destroy the military business. Their businesses support (them) to maintain their power. Therefore, we have to destroy it,” a resident involved in the operation told AFP.

Video footage from local media shows an explosion at the base of one tower followed by the structure falling down, to applause from onlookers.

Two more masts were destroyed elsewhere in the Sagaing region, local sources told AFP.

‘Defensive war’

While attacks on military-owned infrastructure and businesses have been seen before, Tuesday’s spate of blasts comes after a call to arms from the so-called National Unity Government (NUG).

The NUG, which claims to be the country’s legitimate government, is made up of dissident lawmakers in hiding or exile, many of them from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.

NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La on Tuesday urged citizens to target military assets in their areas.

“We launch a people’s defensive war against the junta,” he said in a recorded video.

“All citizens within… Myanmar revolt against the military terrorists led by Min Aung Hlaing.”

As early as May the NUG announced the formation of “people’s defense forces” to take on the junta’s heavily-armed, battle-hardened troops, but they have yet to have a major impact.

The military authorities — officially known as the State Administration Council (SAC) — dismiss the NUG and its affiliates as “terrorists” seeking to bring the country to ruin.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun accused the NUG of attention-seeking ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week which will consider whether the junta or shadow government should represent Myanmar.

“The terrorist groups realise that they are nearly failing. That’s why the attempt to keep up their efforts in order to grab international attention,” Zaw Min Tun said in a statement.

The junta has defended its power grab by alleging massive fraud during elections in late 2020 which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won by a landslide.

Military chief Min Aung Hlaing — named by the SAC as prime minister of a “caretaker government” — last month pledged to hold fresh elections by August 2023.