Ten of Myanmar's major rebel groups threw their support behind the country's anti-coup movement Saturday, fanning fears that a broader conflict could erupt in a country long plagued by fighting between the military and the ethnic armies.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering an uprising that the junta has sought to quell with deadly crackdowns.

According to a local monitoring group, more than 550 people have been killed in the anti-coup unrest, bloodshed that has angered some of Myanmar's 20 or so ethnic groups and their militias, who control large areas of territory, mostly in border regions.

On Saturday, 10 of these rebel groups met virtually to discuss the situation, condemning the junta's use of live ammunition on protesters.

"The leaders of the military council must be held accountable," said General Yawd Serk, leader of the rebel Restoration Council of Shan State.

Last week, the junta declared a month-long ceasefire with ethnic armed groups, though exceptions might be made if "security and administrative machinery of the government... are encroached on".

The announcement did not encompass stopping lethal force against anti-coup demonstrations.

But Yawd Serk said the ceasefire required security forces to halt "all violent actions", including against protesters.

The 10 rebel groups that met online are signatories to a nationwide ceasefire agreement that was brokered by Suu Kyi's government, which attempted to negotiate an end to the ethnic militias' decades-long armed struggle for greater autonomy.

But distrust runs deep for the ethnic minorities of Myanmar, and Yawd Serk said the 10 signatories to the nationwide ceasefire would "review" the deal at their meeting.

"I would like to state that the (10 groups) firmly stand with the people who are... demanding the end of dictatorship," he said.

Last week, a UN special envoy on Myanmar warned the Security Council of the risk of civil war and an imminent "bloodbath".

- 'No reason for conflict' -

The rebel groups' meeting comes a week after one of them, the Karen National Union (KNU), seized a military base in eastern Karen state, killing 10 army officers. The junta retaliated with air strikes.

The KNU has been a vocal opponent of the military junta and said it is sheltering hundreds of anti-coup activists.

On Saturday, the group condemned the military's use of "excessive force by engaging in non-stop bombing and air strikes" from March 27 to 30, which have "caused the deaths of many people including children".

"The air strikes have also led to the further displacement of more than 12,000 people," it said.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the military has only been targeting KNU's 5th Brigade -- which led to the seizure of the military base.

"We had an air strike on that day only," he told AFP.

"We have signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement... If they follow the NCA, there is no reason for conflict to happen."

Ethnic Karen local media and rights groups have reported multiple bombings and air strikes across the state over recent days.

- Information blackout -

With the junta cutting wifi services, mobile data and imposing a nightly internet blackout that has gone on for nearly 50 days, information flow in the country has been effectively throttled.

Arrest warrants were also issued for 40 popular actors, models and social media influencers -- most of whom are in hiding -- with authorities accusing them of spreading information that could cause mutiny in the armed forces.

Thousands across the country continued to come out to protest -- with at least two cities seeing security forces violently crack down before noon.

In eastern Mon state, a man was shot in the stomach and died on his way to the hospital, while a rescue worker in central Monywa told AFP "two were shot in the head" when facing off against authorities.

Footage of the crackdown in Monywa verified by AFP shows protesters struggling to carry a young man bleeding from his head to safety as gunfire rings out in the background.

Meanwhile, state-run media said late Saturday that a police officer was found dead with his throat slit on the streets of Mandalay -- an act by "dishonest people".

CNN, which was granted access by the junta, arrived this week -- correspondent Clarissa Ward was ferried around Yangon in a military convoy.

On Friday, she spoke to two sisters -- Shine Ya Da Na Pyo and Nay Zar Chi Shine -- who were later detained along with another relative.

Local media reported they had flashed a three-finger salute -- a symbol of opposition to the junta -- while speaking to Ward.

"We don't know where they've been detained," said a relative of the sisters who did not want to be named. "Our family is trying our best for their release."

A CNN spokesperson said the company is aware of the situation.

"We are pressing the authorities for information on this, and for the safe release of any detainees," the spokesperson said.

Myanmar 'traitors' hounded in online anti-coup campaign
Bangkok (AFP) April 1, 2021 - As Myanmar descends into chaos, smartphone warriors in the anti-coup movement are seeking revenge online against the junta, hounding people with family ties to the military as a form of "social punishment".

The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February and the death toll from the violence has risen past 500 as the junta struggles to quash dissent.

Anger and grief over the crackdown are being channelled into an online campaign, with close to 170 people with relatives in the junta listed on a website as "traitors".

The site and a corresponding Facebook page -- which had 67,000 followers before it was shut down -- detail the personal information of these people, such as workplaces, universities and links to their social media accounts -- a practice known as doxxing.

"We are here to punish families of the military or the people who are supporting the military. Never forgive, never forget!" the Facebook page said.

Facebook closed down the page for violating community standards, but other pages with smaller numbers of followers still exist.

"We will continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Myanmar," a Facebook spokeswoman said.

The consequences of social punishment have resulted in some victims being forced to shut down their online businesses and a Myanmar university student in Japan quitting her studies, according to local media reports.

The campaign is broader in scope than those with family ties to the military -- people not participating in the civil disobedience strike action are also being targeted and threats have been made to journalists who cover the junta's press conferences.

- 'Corrupted system' -

For Burmese living abroad, doling out "social punishment" to those with junta connections helps ease their sense of powerlessness as they watch from afar, said Yangon-born Cho Yee Latt, who now lives in Singapore.

"(Myanmar) people in Singapore can't do anything, so they feel very stressed out... they are really angry," she told AFP.

Cho Yee Latt says she contacted the Singapore employer of a Myanmar woman who has a soldier boyfriend and was posting pro-coup messages online.

"We must destroy this corrupted system," she said.

"I only worry about Myanmar's poor who are being killed and arrested. The military families are living in foreign countries overseas, they are living high-class lifestyles, they won't be stressed at all."

Among those targeted is the doctor son of a senior minister, who later went on television to renounce his father.

Bryan Paing Myo Oo, based in Brisbane, Australia, suffered blowback on social media over his father Pwint San's role as commerce minister.

"People who deploy social punishment on me think they are doing the right thing. I want to add that I am participating in social punishment against my father," he told the BBC's Burmese-language programme.

"I texted him: 'Dad, you should quit right now. If not, you will lose me forever as your son.'"

Despite being targeted himself, he sympathises with the aims of social punishment as a way to further pressure the regime.

"I don't blame people for resorting to social punishment because people are being brutally gunned down in the streets, and this is the only weapon civilians have," he said.

The attacks on people with junta links are also being spread on Twitter.

"We will do social punishment to the whole family. We will punish them to the point that they want to kill themselves," one Twitter user wrote, posting pictures of a lieutenant general and his daughter.

Twitter said it was acting on abusive tweets, but experts say social media companies do not have enough Burmese-language moderators to keep up with the challenge.

- 'With us or against us' -

The "with us or against us" mentality is also being pushed by a group of ousted MPs from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), who have been working underground against the junta.

The Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw has warned in a statement that "serious action" would be taken against those who are not part of the protest movement.

The tactic is not unique to Myanmar -- during the Hong Kong political protests in 2019 doxxing was commonly used by both sides.

Police became a key target for protesters as clashes raged -- especially after officers stopped wearing identification badges -- while government loyalists outed Beijing's critics.

Cyber-hate expert Ginger Gorman, who penned a book called "Troll Hunting", says so-called "digilantism" where people seek to get back at others online can have serious real-world consequences.

"This kind of online hunting and extreme cyber-hate perpetrated against an individual is linked to huge harms including... incitement to suicide, murder and real-life stalking and assault," she told AFP.

There have been isolated reports of the social punishment campaign spilling over into the physical world, with some people in Myanmar having their eyebrows and hair shaved off by anti-coup protesters, according to multiple social media posts.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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