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Journalism of Courage
Written by Manya Shiel
A pro-military junta group in Myanmar has been carrying out a series of bloody attacks mostly targeting those opposed to last year’s coup.
In the last week of May, the group – Thway Thout Ah Pwe – took responsibility for 8 brutal attacks. The bodies of all 8 victims were left with the group’s insignia badges, with the Thway Thout Ah Pwe publicly claiming responsibility for the deaths.
The Thway Thout Ah Pwe is a group that has been targeting members of the Peoples’ Defence Force (PDF) and the National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as their supporters in Myanmar. The name of the group roughly translates into “Blood Comrades”, with their presence being marked largely in the country’s second largest city — Mandalay.
The group’s actions seem to be aimed at striking fear in the hearts of civilians that are largely against the military junta and government it installed post the coup in February 2021.
The group also shared an audio clip on the social media service Telegram, stating that individuals who join them would receive a weapon and about 300,000 MMK (approximately Rs 12,500). While funding for the group remains unclear, the military government is widely believed to be the one backing them.
Are these attacks systematic?
The group announced it would be carrying out “Operation Red” with the sole purpose of eliminating members of the National League of Democracy, their supporters.
The group’s overarching goal is to instill fear in those opposing the military junta. It has also been seen as the military’s desperation to suppress the people’s anti-coup movement that they have struggled to overcome.
How is all this related to the military?
Myanmar’s military has a long and shady history of forming splinter groups to carry out its dirty operations. While the military junta has denied having affiliation with the Thway Thout Ah Pwe, the aims of the militia and that of the military do overlap. The military government was earlier linked to the Pyu Saw Htee, another group of ‘armed civilians’ which attacked people in Myanmar’s rural areas, particularly in the dry zones of Sagaing, Mawgay, and Mandalay. This too was attributed to the government’s inability to counter an immensely strong, well-coordinated and widespread resistance against its rule. As the military government is incurring heavy losses, their forces are stretched thin.
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What next?
The government that the military established post the coup in February 2021, after ousting the widely popular NLD government, continues to face resistance. The emergence of groups like Thway Thout Ah Pwe and the military’s alleged use of such militias signifies a desperation to control a large population that is overwhelmingly against them. With little signs of the coup being reversed or the resistance to it dying, the cycle of violence is likely to continue.
