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More than a Dozen People Killed in Myanmar Rebel Attacks

Moe Zaw

   Updated: Aug. 15, 2019, 6:03 p.m.

   Aung Lwin Oo contributed to this report, which originated in VOA's
   Burmese Service.

   YANGON, MYANMAR -- Ethnic rebel forces in Myanmar killed at least 14
   people Thursday in what appeared to be coordinated attacks on an elite
   military college and other government targets in the country's north,
   according to a military spokesman.

   The armed groups have been fighting Myanmar's military for several
   decades for greater autonomy for ethnic minorities. The confederation
   of ethnic forces, known as the Northern Alliance, claimed credit for
   the attacks. A statement from the military said the attackers used 107
   mm rocket launchers in two of the five assaults.

   Maung Maung Soe, an ethnic affairs analyst, told VOA's Burmese Service,
   "The attack[s] today didn't aim at a single target '¦ it's more like a
   [coordinated] operation. I think more fighting could follow not just
   from the Northern Alliance, but the army as well, which would retaliate
   against the attacks on a major road and urban area. So, fighting could
   escalate."

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