SINGAPORE: In mid-March, a 26-year-old activist in a central Myanmar city began receiving calls from other young protesters, asking if he could help them secretly slip into the jungle.
Wai Moe Naing is part of a small, loose network of people who have begun helping protesters who opposed the February 1 state train with rebel groups that have been fighting the country’s army for decades.
For two months, protesters have seen soldiers and police shoot hundreds of unarmed civilians in daylight and raid their homes at night. The brutal suppression has curbed the mass demonstrations that ravaged the country after the coup.
A small but growing contingent no longer believes peaceful resistance is sustainable and they turn to the many armed groups on the country’s border lands for help.
These groups belong to the ethnic minorities of Myanmar and have fought against the army in long civil wars in search of greater autonomy. Some have expressed support for the movement that wants to restore the elected government, despite an awkward relationship before the coup when they saw that the civilian leadership was not responding to their concerns.