| #1 Rolling Stone, April 15: "In February 2021, a decade-long period of quasi-democracy ended in Myanmar when the military seized back power. Protesters were gunned down..., and opposition supporters arrested, tortured, and disappeared. But unlike past uprisings, this generation is refusing to back down. Revolutionary militias called People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) made up of mostly Burmans, the country’s ethnic majority, are attacking the regime in cities and lowland areas that have never before seen fighting, and bolstering ethnic armed groups in the borderlands. Violence in Burma is... 'at its highest level since World War II.' ... In an unusual arrangement, FBR and ethnic resistance groups cooperate, drill, and work out side by side... Under pressure, the junta’s army is doing what it always has but at greater scale: torching villages; executing political prisoners; and deliberately targeting schools, churches, and large civilian gatherings with airstrikes to sow terror. ... To date, thousands have died and more than 3 million people are internally displaced. |