Junta rejects rumors of internal military coup in Myanmar

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Myanmar military regime Wednesday dismissed rumors that junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has been ousted in an internal coup.

“These false rumors were spread through fake social media accounts and state-destructive (exiled) media outlets to disrupt law and order,” the junta said in a statement.

Amid a clampdown on independent media inside the Southeast Asian nation, most of information regarding Myanmar is provided by news websites run by Burmese exile.

However, according to Myanmar Today, many pro-regime social media accounts have taken these allegations seriously and suggested instead that Min Aung Hlaing had voluntarily stepped down due to health issues.

This comes as the latest reports from the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar stated that there was “significant evidence of more intensive and violent war crimes, such as aerial attacks on schools, religious buildings and hospitals where there was no apparent military target,... including beheadings and public displays of disfigured and sexually mutilated bodies.”

“We have collected substantial evidence showing horrific levels of brutality and inhumanity across Myanmar. Many crimes have been committed with an intent to punish and induce terror in the civilian population,” said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the mechanism.

In February 2021, Myanmar’s army overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power in a military coup, consequently plunging the country into deep social, political and economic turmoil as the army conducted brutal campaigns against perceived opponents.

Over 3,000 people were killed while more than 25,000 businesses have closed since the coup.