Myanmar¡¯s junta is under pressure in a way it hasn¡¯t been in decades.
Challenging its military might are armed civilian groups known as the People¡¯s Defense Force ¡ª a grassroots insurgency made up of citizens including farmers, doctors, teachers, home-makers and engineers ¡ª all determined to overthrow the generals who took control of the country in a coup just over a year ago. Mass street protests and a deadly crackdown followed, and on past history, that might have been the end of it.
But it wasn¡¯t. There is now debate over whether Myanmar is now in the grip of a civil war. Deadly battles are no longer limited to border hotspots. Instead they¡¯re fought throughout the nation, with cities like the financial capital Yangon and Mandalay witnessing assassination campaigns against junta members and bombing attacks. They hit a Chinese-backed electricity facility in the northwest last month.
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