31st May and 1st June, 2021 #day120 #day121

 

Four months after the coup, there have been growing fears of a full-blown civil war as armed clashes intensifying in many parts of the country. Helicopter gunships attacked against the local PDF near Demoso in Karenni State on 31 May. This is the first time that the junta has conducted heavy airstrikes on civilian forces since the coup. The Irrawaddy also reported that several 120 mm artillery shells were fired from Loikaw which is about 20 miles away from Demoso. Videos and photos of artillery shells and rockets passing through the sky were going viral on social media. The Irrawaddy reported that a PDF in Katha Township, Sagaing Region, was also targeted by airstrikes on 31 May at around 5 pm.

On 31 May, different people's defence forces fighting the junta in Karenni state formed Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF). On the same day, the KNDF announced that at least 80 junta soldiers had been killed in a clash near Kone Thar village, Demoso Township. One KNDF soldier was killed and six others were wounded in the airstrikes, the statement said. 

According to KIC Media, fighting broke out today between the DKBA-breakaway group and the joint force of the junta troops and the No. 1022 Border Guard Force (BGF) near Phalu Village, Myawaddy Township, Karen State. The DKBA is reportedly joined by young people from the People's Defense Forces (PDF). Myanmar Now reports that Sai Lin Zaw, a township-level military council member, was assassinated in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township. According to locals, he is also the township-level leader of the notorious Pyusawhti group, which is backed by the military, and is a member of the ultra-nationalist Mabatha group.

The NUG released a statement on 31 May saying that they are concerned for the safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint after hearing that the military council had now relocated them from their houses to unknown locations. In addition, the NUG Ministry of Defense today issued statement urging the military personnel to join them and assuring safety for them and their families. Netizens has heavily criticized the BBC interviewer Yee Yee Aung for taking advantage of the inexperience of the young interviewee and asking him questions about the training courses, planned operations, means of weapons, and numbers of his group during the interview without regard to security concerns.

The junta renamed the Bogyoke Aung San Bridge (Belu-kyn) bridge connecting Moulmein and Chaungzon in Mon State as Salween Bridge (Chaungzon) and changed the signboard colour from red to green. In 2017, many Mon people protested against the NLD government for naming it Bogyoke Aung San Bridge instead of the name the locals preferred. Many netizens, including Mons, have criticized this action, saying the junta used it for propaganda that it is meeting ethnic aspirations. The Irrawaddy reports that about 500,000 construction workers have lost their jobs as construction businesses across the country has stalled. Imported construction materials and domestically produced cement prices have risen sharply since the coup.