‘Bloodbath’ in Myanmar: UN envoy to Security Council

Protests erupted across Myanmar on Wednesday night, spreading on Thursday morning, two months after the military seized power. This occurred despite a United Nations special envoy warning that "a bloodbath is imminent" as a result of the intensified crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations in the aftermath of a flare-up in fighting between the army and ethnic minority insurgents in frontier regions.

Since the army deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on February 1, citing unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in November, Myanmar has been rocked by almost daily protests. Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) are imprisoned.

As per Khit Thit Media reported on Wednesday, the junta has accused Suu Kyi of several minor crimes however could soon charge her with treason which can be punishable by death.

DVB News reported that at least 20 soldiers were killed and four military trucks were destroyed in clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of Myanmar's most powerful rebel groups. A KIA soldier from Kachin Liberation Media stated that the attack took place on Wednesday afternoon.

For the first time in more than 20 years, Myanmar military aircraft have begun bombing positions of another group, the Karen National Union (KNU), and thousands of villagers have fled their homes, many into Thailand.

The next hearing in Suu Kyi's case is scheduled for later this week. She and Min Min Soe, one of her lawyers, held their first video conference since her arrest on Wednesday.

According to comments shared with reporters, UN special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgene told the 15-member Security Council that the military was incapable of handling the country and that the situation on the ground would only worsen.

Schraner Burgener further added that the council must take "potentially significant action" to alter the course of events as "a bloodbath is imminent." Due to opposition from China, Russia, India, and Vietnam, the council's statements have so far expressed outrage and denounced violence against demonstrators, but have dropped language calling the takeover a coup and threatening potential further action.

As per the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), till now more than 536 civilians have been killed in protests, with 141 of them killed on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the uprising. Members of parliament who were removed, mostly from Suu Kyi's party, promised to establish a federal democracy in order to resolve ethnic minority groups' long-standing demand for autonomy. However, such ideas are dismissed by the military, which sees itself as the only institution capable of keeping the nation together.

The Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a parallel civilian government, also declared the abolition of a 2008 constitution drafted by the military that guaranteed the army's influence. There has been an increasing uproar around the world in reaction to the situation. Despite this, the military has so far seemed impervious to external strain. On Wednesday, the US urged China, which has major economic and political interests in Myanmar, to use its influence to keep those responsible for the military coup accountable.

Although the West has strongly criticized the coup, China has been more cautious, and the government's top diplomat, Wang Yi, spoke with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan on Wednesday for stability. The ministers "called for a de-escalation of the situation, a cessation of violence, and the commencement of constructive dialogue among all sides," according to Singapore's foreign ministry.

ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, has a pledge not to intervene in each other's affairs, however, led by Indonesia some countries have been actively pushing diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis.