Myanmar's junta extends emergency for 6 months

ANKARA

The military in Myanmar extended on Monday the state of emergency for six months, a move that came just ahead of the three-year anniversary of the coup that toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The National Defense and Security Council, the country's supreme decision-making body, decided to prolong emergency rule, which expires at midnight.

The move delays elections that were promised following the coup in February 2021. The military has extended emergency rule since it took power several times.

At least 4,474 civilians have been killed since the coup and nearly 20,000 people are being held in detention on political grounds, according to the local monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The UN says more than two million people have also been displaced by the violence.

Addressing the meeting, junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said it cannot lift the emergency as it deals with ethnic armed groups across the country.

The military is reeling from a coordinated offensive launched in October last year by three ethnic minority rebel groups in the country's northern region. The groups are attacking junta forces, which rule the Buddhist-majority nation, capturing many towns and junta outposts.