Myanmar junta imposes martial law in 60 townships

Myanmar’s junta leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing has issued new emergency ordinances to impose military control in 60 townships, a move aimed at tightening security in regions still mired in conflict despite the transition to civilian rule. The ordinances cover 60 townships across Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan and Rakhine States as well as Saging, Magway and Mandalay regions – areas where the military had imposed restrictions and curfews following the 2021 coup.
The official announcement cites the need to “end armed terrorism” and restore “the rule of law” as the main justifications for the 90-day emergency period, according to a notification published by state-owned media on Friday. All executive and judicial authority in these areas is transferred to Myanmar’s new military chief Ye Win Oo for a period of 90 days, according to a second notification published in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
The ordinances mark the first major move by Min Aung Hlaing to solidify control over war-ravaged territories since becoming president in early April after a widely criticised election won by a military-backed party.
Myanmar was plunged into conflict in 2021 after the military ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking widespread protests that morphed into a nationwide armed resistance against the coup. Following its 2021 takeover, the Min Aung Hlaing-led junta imposed a state of emergency across the country, which it extended multiple times before it was able to conduct elections in December and January that critics said were neither free nor fair.