On Monday morning, the army in Myanmar arrested the head of the ruling party and a number of leaders and announced the transfer of power to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Altaghyeer – agencies
The army initiated a coup this morning, arresting the leader of the ruling party, Aung San Suu Kyi and a number of other leaders, and took control of the state television building.
The army declared a state of emergency for a year, and confirmed its arrest of a number of senior government leaders in response to what it called fraud in the general elections last year.
News agencies quoted Myo Nyunt, spokesman for Myanmar’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, as saying that Leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained by the army.
The spokesman added that Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders were arrested in the early hours of the morning, while the army took control of Rangoon City Hall.
He also expected his arrest, and asked the people not to respond recklessly and to act in accordance to the law.
It was reported that soldiers were deployed in the streets of the capital Naypyidaw and the main city Yangon, and telephone and Internet communications were cut off in the capital.and the country’s TV said on Facebook that it was unable to broadcast.
The army confirmed in a statement on its owned TV that the authority had been transferred to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, General Min Aung Hlaing.
The arrests came at a time when the House of Representatives, which emerged from the recent legislative elections, was scheduled to hold its first session within hours.
Went out to local wet market and people are shopping as usual. Some were busy taking down NLD flags #video #bahan #myanmar
I am told to turn on local TV at 9 am pic.twitter.com/OD8H843f32— Annie Zaman အန်နီဇမန်း (@Natrani) February 1, 2021
Meanwhile the United States condemned the arrests, demanded the immediate release of the elected leaders, and threatened that it would take action against Myanmar officials if the detainees were not released.
President Biden threatens to review sanctions on Myanmar after the military seized power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi https://t.co/dloDUsg69Y
— CNN (@CNN) February 1, 2021
The National League for Democracy Party won the elections that took place last November, but the army said that the vote was rigged.and the past days have witnessed increasing tensions between the civilian government and the army.
Myanmar, also known as Burma or Brahmadish, is located in Southeast Asia. It was separated from the British Government of India in April 1937 to be a separate British colony.and finally gained independence in 1948 and separated from British colonialism.
