Nearly two dozen weapons factories are keeping Myanmar’s junta in the business of war, providing around half of the munitions the military regime has used in a years-long conflict against its own people, defectors said.
Most of the munitions used by the junta are made domestically. But it has obtained weapon manufacturing technologies from China and North Korea, and is approaching Russia to acquire new capabilities, said former Capt. Zin Yaw, who defected to the rebel side and now advises the Civil Disobedience Movement, or CDM, of public servants who resigned after the 2021 coup d’etat.
The military has long exerted influence over Myanmar, and has taken steps to ensure that it doesn’t lose that control, even in times when it does not rule outright. When the military’s influence wanes, it uses violence to achieve its goals, most recently in the February 2021 coup and subsequent bloody crackdown on dissent.
While public backlash to that seizure of power has rarely been as intense as during the last four years, the country’s armed opposition remains at a significant disadvantage due to the junta’s vast military complex.
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