SINGAPORE – In mid-March, a 26-year-old activist from a Myanmar city began receiving calls from other young protesters, asking if he could help them sneak into the jungle.
Wai Moe Naing is part of a small free network of people who began helping protesters who opposed the February 1 coup with rebel groups that have been fighting the country’s army for decades.
For two months, protesters chased soldiers and police, shooting hundreds of unarmed civilians in broad daylight and razing houses at night. The brutal suppression prevented mass demonstrations that swept the country after the coup.
A small but growing contingent no longer believes that peaceful resistance is sustainable and is turning to numerous armed groups in the nation’s border countries for help.
These groups belong to the ethnic minorities in Myanmar and have fought with the army in long-running civil wars in search of greater autonomy. Some have now expressed support for the movement trying to restore the elected government, despite a troubled relationship before the coup, when they saw the civilian leadership as unresponsive to their concerns.