Decades of armed resistance to the Myanmar military entered a new phase in April of last year, when civilians formed local defence forces to attack the troops and infrastructure of the junta that seized power in the country’s February coup. Guerrilla groups have since been created nationwide, carrying out ambushes on military positions in coordination with and in addition to attacks launched by ethnic armed organisations.
The Myanmar army has responded with airstrikes and ground offensives involving massacres, the torching of villages, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
Myanmar Now spoke with Anthony Davis—a Bangkok-based security consultant and analyst with extensive field experience on a range of armed conflicts across Asia—on the current and evolving armed struggle between resistance forces and the Myanmar military. He writes primarily for IHS-Janes, a security and defence publication.