Junta Denies Rumors Of Coup In Myanmar Military

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Myanmar's military regime has dismissed rumors that the junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing has been ousted in an internal coup.

"This fake crime was spread through fake social media accounts and media that damaged the country to interfere with law and order," the Myanmar junta said as quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Wednesday, August 14.

Amid the crackdown on the independent media in Southeast Asia, most of the information about Myanmar was reported by news sites managed by exiled Myanmar people.

However, according to a Myanmar Today report, many pro-regime social media accounts took the rumors seriously and stated that Min Aung Hlaing had voluntarily resigned due to health problems.

The rumors came after a recent report by the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar stated there was "significant evidence of more intensive and cruel war crimes, such as airstrikes against schools, religious buildings, and hospitals where there were no clear military targets, including the removal of heads and public demonstrations of deformed and sexuallyemployed bodies."

We have gathered a lot of evidence showing a terrible level of brutality and inhumaneity across Myanmar. Many crimes have been committed with the intention of punishing and stoking terror among civilians, "said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the mechanism.

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar was formed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 to gather and analyze evidence of the most serious international crime and other international law violations committed in Myanmar since 2011.

In February 2021, Myanmar's army toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government and seized power through a military coup.

The coup has caused Myanmar to fall into deep social, political and economic turmoil as the army crack down on those deemed to be opponents.

More than 3,000 people have died and more than 25,000 businesses have been closed since the coup.