Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has accused the military junta of committing crimes against humanity, citing its artillery strikes and air raids on civilians.
Many civilians were killed and injured and thousands were displaced by junta attacks using jet fighters and helicopters in Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Chin and Shan states and Sagaing and Magwe regions, and junta soldiers have committed mass killings, torched houses and used civilians as human shields, the NUG statement said on Thursday.
Its attacks violate international norms, ethics and laws created to protect humanity, said the NUG.
Hospitals and pharmacies were damaged by junta bombing in areas controlled by the Karen National Union in Hpapun District, Karen State, on Jan. 12.
This followed junta air raids on Kayah State’s capital, Loikaw, which displaced thousands of civilians. In December, Lay Kay Kaw, a new town in Karen State near the Thai border, was left almost deserted after aerial attacks.
On Friday, two junta helicopters attacked Lay Kay Kaw, close to areas where displaced people are sheltering beside the Moei River on the Thai border.
Ongoing airstrikes are also causing serious destruction in Sagaing Region.
The NUG’s shadow health ministry, citing international agency reports, said the regime killed 32 health workers and detained 288 others and raided 355 health care centers, including hospitals and clinics, between Feb. 1 and Nov. 30 last year.
Medics were the first profession to take to the streets against last year’s coup and formed the civil disobedience movement to strike against military rule. The regime responded by detaining and prosecuting striking medics.
The regime is ridiculing the Geneva Convention, United Nations Security Council and domestic and international laws with its continuing violence against Myanmar’s people, said the parallel ministry, asking the international community to take action.
The NUG said it has been trying to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced and take measures to hold the regime to account under international law for its atrocities.
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