Ten senior members of the military government have been forced into retirement on health grounds following the extension of emergency rule for another six months, according to an announcement issued by the junta on Wednesday.

Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo, Auditor-General Tin Oo, Myanmar Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Htay Aung and Myanmar National Human Rights Commission chairman Hla Myint were among those forced to resign.

Tun Tun Oo has served as chief justice since President Thein Seins quasi-civilian administration. He was an official at the Office of Military Advocate General for 25 years, rising to the post of assistant advocate general before leaving the office. He was appointed deputy chief justice in 2007 and became chief justice in 2011. He continued to hold the post under the now ousted civilian government and after the 2021 coup. The 67-year-old was sanctioned by the European Union in November 2022.

Others forced to retire include Religious Affairs and Culture Minister Ko Ko, Electricity Minister Thaung Han, Energy Minister Myo Myint Oo and Labor Minister Pwint Hsan.

Members of the juntas governing body, the State Administration Council (SAC), Maung Ko and Aung Kyaw Min were also forced to step down, while council member Kyaw Tun was promoted to the central advisory body of the SAC.

Following his extension of emergency rule starting on August 1, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing also reconstituted his 18-member SAC with all the generals keeping the same positions in the new body.

Almost 25,000 civilians have been displaced in Sagaings Depayin and Shwebo townships amid a fresh outbreak of fighting between junta troops and resistance forces, according to local sources.

Resistance forces attacked at around 11 am on Wednesday, shortly after junta infantry raided Ma Ya Kan village in Depayin, a local resistance fighter said.

The fighting lasted for about 45 minutes. They lost seven soldiers while a few comrades from our side sustained minor injuries, he said.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the casualty numbers.

The clash came after around 100 junta troops advanced into Depayin Township from nearby Ye-U Township on Tuesday, according to locals.

Junta soldiers reportedly torched around 27 houses in Ma Ya Kan village, which was hosting around 1,000 displaced people sheltering in monasteries and relatives homes.

Sources said two residents of Ywar Shey village were wounded by the juntas indiscriminate shelling during the attack.

On Wednesday, Depayin volunteers said they were overwhelmed by an unprecedented influx of new refugees, adding to about 10,000 who had already fled from Shwebo over the last few days.

Yesterday was a complete nightmare for us. There was no room for newly displaced people and we could not provide food for all of them, said Ko Phyo, a member of the Depayin Township Brothers volunteer group.

Another volunteer said they had to borrow rice after running out of funds, and stressed the inadequate provision of humanitarian aid in their area.

We could only provide one meal for them [displaced people] because our funding was insufficient, the volunteer said.

Depayin villagers eventually returned to their homes after junta infantry moved to Depayin town on Thursday morning.

However, nearly 10,000 Shwebo villagers remain stranded in eastern Depayin after fleeing junta infantry in Seik Kon village, western Shwebo, on Sunday.

Displaced Shwebo residents are currently sheltering at monasteries and schools in Mu Thit, Mu Kan, Hpoke Tan Taw, Su Tat, and Taik villages, according to Depayin volunteers.

Moreover, around 600 families have been permanently displaced in Depayin Township since the 2021 military coup. Of the displaced families, around 100 need urgent food supplies and shelter, say volunteer groups.

Justice For Myanmar (JFM) is calling on the Singaporean government to expel junta cronies from the city state and demanding that it do more to stop their businesses from providing the junta with funds, arms and military equipment used for escalating war crimes in Myanmar.

The advocacy group launched a Twitter campaign on Tuesdaywith the hashtag #DoMoreSingaporecalling on netizens to pressure Singapores government to do more against the Myanmar junta and the cronies who supply it.

Arms traffickers have moved hundreds of millions of dollars through Singapore banks as they supply the Myanmar military with weapons and equipment used to slaughter people, including women and children, JFM said.

The Singaporean government needs to do more and block the junta from Singapores financial system, it added.

In July, the number of Singapore-based entities known to have supplied the Myanmar juntas military rose to 138 with the addition of 91 entities newly identified by the city states government with the help of UN Special Rapporteur to Myanmar Tom Andrews.

The Singapore government identified the additional entities, adding to an initial list of 47 revealed earlier by Andrews.  Its foreign minister said investigations were ongoing, suggesting the number would rise.

The Singapore government has not imposed a general trade embargo on Myanmar. Last year, Singapores bilateral trade with Myanmar totalled 5.8 billion Singapore dollars (US$ 4.3 billion).

Although Singapore is more than 1,000 kilometers from Myanmar, business deals made there resulted in the murder and mass suffering of innocent people in Myanmar, rights groups say.

In a report published in May, Andrews documented that at least US$ 1 billion of weapons, dual-use technology and materials used to manufacture weapons were imported by the junta between February 1, 2021the day it launched its coupand December 2022.

JFM said that businesspeople like Tay Za and Naing Htut Aung have made millions of dollars selling arms to the Myanmar military that are used for murder and inflicting mass suffering.

...

Two pro-junta militia members were killed when the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) ambushed a junta convoy carrying soldiers and allied local militias in Muse Township, northern Shan State on Wednesday.

TNLA troops attacked 10 junta vehicles carrying over 100 soldiers and militias near Auktungkhan village, between Muse town and 105th-mile border trade zone on the border with China.

The TNLA ambushed the convoy by detonating mines, while junta troops responded by opening fire and shelling the scene until 4 pm, according to locals.

Streets are deserted in the 105th-mile border trade zone due to [junta] artillery strikes. They are still shooting near Auktungkhan village, a local resident told The Irrawaddy at 3 pm on Wednesday.

Locals voiced fears that the fighting would affect border trade with China.

The attack killed two convoy personnel immediately while also wounding junta soldiers, according to a source from the front line. The source claimed that a Peoples Defense Force (PDF) group fought alongside the TNLA, but the ethnic armed organization did not mention any PDF involvement.

Junta artillery deployed in the Muse border trade zone shelled the scene of the ambush, wounding a civilian woman, who was rushed to hospital.

The ambush took place on the cargo route from the 105th-mile trade zone to Jinsanjiao gate on the Myanmar-China border. The TNLA is active in the area.

On July 19, junta troops attacked a TNLA hill-top outpost near Mankan village on the Muse-Namkham road, sparking a day-long clash.

On July 25, junta troops launched air and artillery strikes on a TNLA unit near Sai Khau...

BANGKOKBetrayal is a beverage best served chilled in Thailand, as an innocuous chocolate-mint iced concoction takes the limelight an unlikely symbol of the kingdoms deep political divisions following Mays election.

The country is deadlocked after the Move Forward Party (MFP), buoyed to victory by promises to end nearly a decade of army-backed rule, failed to get its reformist candidate elected PM, forcing it to bow out and allow coalition partner Pheu Thai to try to form a government.

But only last week Pheu Thai leaders were seen in talks with pro-military party figures, with an image of them toasting iced chocolate-mint drinks going viral.

Local media immediately dubbed it a friend-betraying beverage and some cafes and shops announced boycotts, even as interest in the drink soared.

Devotees excitedly snapped pictures of the goopy green concoction at the ThinkLab cafe in Pheu Thais Bangkok headquarters.

Expertly drizzling chocolate over the minty liquid before topping it off with whipped cream, barista Pob Rujikiatkhachorn said the 90 baht ($2.60) drink had never been so popular.

Its our best-selling item since it became the talk of the town on social media, he told AFP.

He was initially surprised by the drinks popularity but thanked the politicians for his increased sales, saying he has sold roughly 150 a day.

In the end, its just a delicious drink that attracts a lot of customers and spreads happiness.

Hurt your friend

MFP supporters might disagree.

In the wake of the viral image, several cafes have joined a mint-choc boycott, removing it from the menu and describing it as a hurt-your-friend drink.

I was suspicious of Pheu Thai when I saw that photo. Why did they hold talks with them? Sasichom Krudhnark Pongphrom, who owns a cafe in Samut Songkhram, southwest of Bangkok, told AFP.

The 42-year-old, wearing MFPs signature orange colours, said she had removed the beverage from the menu.

I dont have anything against the choc-mint drink, but I just wanted to show that I stand by the pro-democracy side of politics, she said.

Thai politics has a long history of embracing colour coding.

About 10-15 years ago the country was deeply split between royalist Yellow Shirts and Red Shirts who supported Thaksin Shinawatra, founder of Pheu Thais forerunner party.

Some critics have condemned the moves by the junta-appointed senate to block MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrats bid for prime minister.

But so far, street protests have been limited unlike the huge rallies of the Red and Yellow era or the youth-led demonstrations of 2020.

Instead, much of the anger has been vented online.

The choc-m...

Junta airstrikes on civilian and resistance targets in Kayah State have risen sharply over the past six months, doubling the combined total in 2021 and 2022, according to the Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF), which monitors regime atrocities in the state.

THE PKPFs report on Tuesday recorded a total of 572 airstrikes on civilian targets and battlegrounds in the resistance stronghold of Kayah State, as junta forces increasingly rely on aerial assaults amid heavy losses for their ground troops.

However, the first half of 2023 saw twice as many regime airstrikes than in 2021 and 2022 combined. This period accounted for 68 percent of the total number of airstrikes conducted by the junta in the two and a half years since the coup.

Meanwhile, at least 766 clashes have erupted between regime forces and allied resistance groups in Kayah State since the military takeover, the Karenni rights group said.

The death toll among junta troops in Kayah is estimated at 2,230 seven times larger than casualties suffered by resistance forces.

Around 310 resistance fighters have been killed fighting the junta in Kayah State, according to the PKPF.

Resistance groups had also destroyed 64 junta vehicles and seized a large quantity weapons and ammunition during the battles.

Meanwhile, junta forces have killed around 516 civilians and detained 196 since the coup, the group reported on Tuesday.

Junta shelling and bombing raids targeting civilians had also destroyed at least 1,639 houses and 39 religious buildings.

On June 6, resistance forces established the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC) as an interim government body, while junta administration only functions in the state capital of Loikaw, according to local sources.

Meanwhile, fighting has escalated in Hpaswang and Mese townships after the regime sent heavy reinforcements to Kayah State last month.

The United Nations estimates that at least 98,400 people were displaced in the state as of July 17. However, local aid groups on the ground report that more than 270,000 people have been displaced in Kayah State and neighbouring Pekon township of Southern Shan State.

Aid groups said around 100,000 people are in urgent need of food supplies and healthcare assistance.

Myanmars military regime has committed at least 144 massacres over the past two years and killed 1,595 civilians around the country, according to the civilian National Unity Governments Ministry of Human Rights.

Evidence indicates a campaign of mass killing that is escalating as the junta struggles to contain the popular uprising following the 2021 coup, the ministry reported on Monday.

The junta committed 11 massacres of five or more people in 2021, 85 massacres in 2022, and 48 massacres between January and July this year, the ministry said.

The resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region has experienced the highest death toll, suffering 90 massacres in which a total of 920 civilians were killed over the two and a half years.

The worst massacre was the Pazigyi village aerial bombardment, which killed 157 civilians including 42 children on April 11 this year. In the largest mass killing committed by the regime since the coup, a jet fighter dropped bombs on Kantbalu Townships Pazigyi village where around 200 civilians had gathered for a housewarming ceremony, causing carnage. Later that same day, an Mi-35 helicopter gunfire sprayed the area with gunfire and a jet fighter conducted another airstrike as locals collected bodies from the morning attack.

The military terrorizes people with arson attacks and massacres because the people dont accept their rule, a representative of the Depayin Refugee Support Group told The Irrawaddy.

Their behavior is very cowardly, he said.

Depayin Township has suffered the highest number of junta arson attacks, with 6,024 homes torched, as well as the highest toll from civilian massacres, he added.

Thirteen people including seven children were killed by a junta airstrike on Depayins Let Yat Kone village in late September. Two Mi-35 helicopter gunships swept down and opened fire on the village school where more than 200 students were attending.

The people have sacrificed everything for the revolution. So, they will never go back, a representative of the Depayin Refugee Support Group told The Irrawaddy.

In late October, a total of 80 people, including well-known Kachin...

Rumor: Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have been released from prison by the junta.

Fact: Suu Kyi and Win Myint remain behind bars along with their cabinet members and thousands of other political prisoners. Myanmars descent into chaos and turmoil continues.

The recent partial pardon of Suu Kyi, which saw her total sentence reduced from 33 years to 27 years, is appalling but laughable. Suu Kyis former economic adviser Sean Turnell, who was also jailed in Myanmar before his release last year, said it was meaningless. Indeed, they are cowards!

On Monday, amid rumors and speculation about the forming of a transitional government and the release of several politicians including Suu Kyi, the regime held a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) and extended the state of emergency. This is the fourth time the regime has done so, violating the charter. But it was joined by all NDSC members, including Vice President Henry Van Thio, who has served continuously as second vice-president under the National League for Democracy government and now the junta. It is just a divide and conquer scheme: Henry Van Thio is also under house arrest.

2008 Constitution violated

...

More than 120 political prisoners were among the 7,749 inmates freed on Tuesday in a general amnesty, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

However, those granted amnesty were only a tiny fraction of the thousands of pro-democracy supporters detained by the military regime since the February 2021 coup, it added.

The junta announced Tuesdays amnesty to mark the Buddhist holiday of Dhamma Cakka Day, which falls on Tuesday.

Detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was pardoned on five criminal charges, reducing her 33-year prison term by six years.

Ousted President U Win Myint also received pardons in two cases incitement and breaching the disaster management law but continues to serve sentences handed down in six others. He faces a further 10 years in prison out of his original 12-year sentence.

As of 10am on Wednesday, AAPP had confirmed that more than 120 political detainees had been released in the amnesty, adding that this represented only a small proportion of people jailed under the junta for political activities.

The released political prisoners had only months left to serve on their sentences, according to the groups statement on Wednesday.

U Tate Naing, AAPP secretary, said that forcibly arresting and then releasing people who should not have been arrested in the first place does not mean that political repression has been eased.

The regime often issues these statements to influence international opinion and give the impression to the outside world that it has a moderate attitude. But in fact, the military has no interest in any kind of dialogue. You can see this clearly if you look back at the decades of injustice and brutality against ethnic groups, he said.

The military regimes refusal to disclose the personal information of the political prisoners released was hindering the identification process, the AAPP said.

U Bo Kyi, AAPPs joint secretary, said the terrorist military regime was merely using political prisoners as hostages to apply diplomatic pressure, and there were no good intentions behind the amnesty.

Even as the military regime grants such amnesties, it continues its campaign of oppressive violence throughout the country. Given that it arrested 144 people and killed 101 people last month, it is obvious that junta troops are still terrorizing the people, U Bo Kyi said.

According to AAPP, the junta has arrested 24,130 opponents of military rule since the coup, 19,716 of whom remain in detention.

At least 54 Myanmar junta forces were reportedly killed in the past week as Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs) and some ethnic armed organizations continued to attack regime targets in many parts of the country.

Incidents were reported in Kayah and Karen states and Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions.

The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and the ethnic armed groups.

Some military casualty figures could not be independently verified.

Over a week of fighting in Kayah

Nine days of clashes occurred in Kayah States capital Loikaw from July 20 to 28. Karenni resistance groups including the Karenni Army ambushed military convoys carrying reinforcements on the Mobye-Loikaw Highway, as well as regime forces who were providing security for the convoy, said the Karenni Nationalities Defense Forces (KNDF), which joined the attacks.

On July 24 and 25 alone, at least 20 regime forces were killed. Resistance forces seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition and managed to destroy a military vehicle.

Heavy blast rocks notorious military checkpoint in Hpa-an

...

The military has appointed at least 20 of its officers to high-ranking positions at Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) this year and they were put in charge of overseeing branches in at least five regions and two states last month, according to the juntas gazette and letters from the bank seen by The Irrawaddy.

Five majors were appointed as managers at the banks headquarters, a March 15 gazette said.

Another gazette on the same day said 15 captains had also been appointed as assistant managers at MEBs headquarters.

In July, the state-owned commercial bank appointed them as civilian managers and assistant managers of administration departments in branches across the country.

The five majors were transferred to branches in Shan State, and Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions, according to a letter from the MEB seen by The Irrawaddy.

In another letter, 15 captains, including the 14 appointed to MEB in March, were transferred to MEB district banks in Yangon, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay and Bago regions, and Kayah and Shan states. They have been appointed civilian deputy heads of the branches.

Zin Yaw, a former captain in the juntas military who joined the civil disobedience movement, said more military officers had been appointed to high positions at the bank.

Its true that the junta appointed its officers to Myanma Economic Bank [but] this was not the first time. The junta [began] appointing military officers to the MEB in the months after the coup, he said.

Appointing officers to civilian government departments and state-owned businesses is a method the junta uses to tighten its control, he explained, adding that the junta has plenty of majors and captains and most are transferred to civilian government departments and state-owned financial institutions.

The junta transferred majors and captains to MEB branches, and in the future it will continue transferring [officers] into such [enterprises] and other civil departments to spread its cells, Zin Yaw said.

The transfer of military officials from MEB headquarters to its branches followed the imposition of sanctions by the United States on two state-owned banks: Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank.

After the sanctions were imposed in late June, the regime attempted to open secret bank accounts for the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise...

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing again vowed to take whatever action was necessary for his regime to regain control of Myanmar as he extended emergency rule for another six months on Monday. More than two-and-a-half years after the coup, the regime is still struggling to impose control in large parts of the country.

He justified the six-month extension by saying it was intended to speed up measures to restore stability and rule of law in parts of the country experiencing terrorist acts, referring to the resistance movement. The regime has labeled the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and Peoples Defense Force (PDF) as terrorists.

At a meeting of his regimes cabinet on July 13, Min Aung Hlaing also called for increased security operations in Sagaing Region as well as Chin and Kayah states, which he described as hotbeds of terrorism.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) on Monday, Min Aung Hlaing reiterated his plan to hold a general election. Foreign governments and blocs have rejected the plan, saying any vote held under the junta would be a sham.

PDF groups and some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) are making it difficult to organize polls in Sagaing, Magwe, Bago and Tanintharyi regions as well as Karen, Kayah, Chin and Mon states, Min Aung Hlaing said.

He also warned ethnic people not to press their demands by wielding arms.

On Myanmars Armed Forces Day on March 27, Min Aung Hlaing vowed to crush EAOs helping the NUG and PDFs. He has admitted that more than 130 townships across the country are outside of the militarys control, while imposing martial law in nearly 50 townships in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions as well as Chin and Kayah states.

While it has greater firepower and troop strength than the resistance forces, which began forming and training a few months after the 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaings military is stretched thin fighting a multi-front war, making it necessary for the junta chief to create incentives to buy loyalty from his soldiers.

The dictator has twice sponsored beach holidays for junta soldiers who were badly wounded in fighting with resistance forces. On July 23, he awarded medals of honor to 45 police officers in Sagaing and Magwe regions, resistance strongholds in central Myanmar.

The state of emergency was initially declared in February 2021 when the military ousted the democratically elected government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The countrys constitution states that an emergency can be declared for an initial period of one year and can normally be extended for a maximum of two half-year terms at the discretion of the military-dominated NDSC.

However, Min Aung Hlaing has extended the emergency rule twice beyond the maximum of two years, thereby breaching, or at least bending, the constitution.

Washington is ...

Daily attacks hit regime targets in almost every corner of Myanmar in July as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs)the armed wings of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG)and ethnic armed organizations escalated their assaults on junta troops and targets, often in unison.

Armed wings of the Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmars oldest ethnic political organization, pushed south, taking control of more territory and threatening the juntas administrative capital, Naypyitaw.

At the same time, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) continued to hold its ground in the north as regime forces attempted to retake their former bases. Heavy fighting also occurred in northern Shan State, where regime forces faced three ethnic armed groupsthe KIA, Taang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.

Fierce clashes continued to break out in Kayah State and southern Shan State in July as the junta sent reinforcements to attempt to retake a border town seized by resistance groups.

The junta also ran into heavy resistance from armed ethnic Chin groups in July after sending more troops to the western state in an attempt to regain control.

Daily attacks on regime troops and targets also occurred in Magwe, Sagaing and Mandalay regions, where resistance forces escalated their use of improvised drones.

The junta responded to its daily defeats and the loss of territory by engaging in what it is best known forwar crimes.

Three teens were stabbed to death and had their tongues cut out during a predawn raid on July 25 on an office of the All Burma Federation of Student Union in Sagaing Regions Budalin Township.

Other atrocities included arbitrary murders, massacres, rape and other forms of sexual violence, looting of villages, torching of homes, bombarding civilian targets, and using civilians as human shields.

The escalating conflict and atrocities in July appeared to confirm what several international analysts have been saying since late May. After more than two years of armed revolution, the regime is losing the war and is no longer in control of much of the country.

On Monday, the regime admitted as much by breaching the constitution to extend the State of Emergency for another six months, citing an extraordinary situationresistance against military rule.

Resistance rising in the south

...

Myanmars military regime cut six years from detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyis 33-year combined sentence as part of a general amnesty on Tuesday.

The amnesty marking an important Buddhist religious dayDhamma Cakka Day, which falls on Tuesdayalso saw a four-year reduction in the sentence of ousted President U Win Myint of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which was toppled by a military coup in 2021.

The regime announced pardons for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in five criminal cases filed against her in 2021 for alleged offenses including incitement and violations of the disaster management, telecommunications and export-import laws.

She has been convicted in a total of 19 cases. The 78-year-old continues to serve a combined 27-year sentence in the remaining 14 cases.

U Win Myint was pardoned in two casesincitement and breaching the disaster management lawand continues to serve sentences handed down in six others.

Both have been detained by the regime since the first day of the takeover. Though they were put under house arrest initially, they were later transferred to prisons. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was reportedly moved to home confinement late last month but the junta has yet to confirm the move.

The regimes partial pardons for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint failed to impress Myanmar people, many of whom took to social media to express their views. Why should we bother to thank them [for the pardons], as they [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint] should not have been arrested in the first place? said one.

U Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for Myanmars shadow National Unity Government (NUG), told The Irrawaddy that the pardons were nothing more than cosmetic and called for the unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Win Myint and all political prisoners. The NUG was formed by elected lawmakers from the NLD and their ethnic allies to challenge the junta politically at home and abroad. Many in Myanmar consider it their legitimate government.

The move comes straight out of the regimes dirty politics playbook to ease international pressure, he said.

Since the coup and the ensuing bloody crackdowns on protesters, the regime has been struggling to cope with the impacts of international sanctions and widespread armed resistance at home.

Tuesdays amnesty saw the release of more than 7,000 people detained at prisons across the country. Among them were 71 people detained for their affiliations with ethnic armed organizations. At the time of reporting on Tuesday afternoon, some political prisoners had reportedly been released but the exact number was not available yet.

The clemency came one day after the junta extended its military rule for a...

WSHINGTONThe United States is deeply concerned by the decision from Myanmars ruling junta to extend the countrys state of emergency for six months, a State Department spokesman said Monday.

The extension, announced earlier in the day, spelled a delay for elections the military had pledged to hold in August as it battles anti-coup fighters across the country.

The United States is deeply concerned by the Burma military regimes extension of the state of emergency, which comes as the regime plunges the country deeper into violence and instability, said spokesman Matthew Miller, using an alternate name for the country.

The Southeast Asian country has been ravaged by deadly violence since a coup deposed leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government more than two years ago, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent that has sparked fighting across swathes of the nation while tanking the economy.

Since overthrowing a democratically elected government two-and-a-half years ago, the military regime has carried out hundreds of air strikes, burned down tens of thousands of homes, and displaced more than 1.6 million people, Miller said.

The regimes widespread brutality and disregard for the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma continue to prolong the crisis, he added.

The United States will continue to work with our partners and allies to apply political and economic tools to hold the regime accountable.

Last month, Washington imposed sanctions on Myanmars Defense Ministry and two regime-controlled banks, the state-owned Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank.