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ASEAN ‘gravely concerned’ over Myanmar junta attack
ASEAN chair Cambodia deeply criticized the Myanmar junta on Tuesday for a glaring attack on civilians in the country's north on Sunday, just days ahead of regional crunch talks on the coup crisis in Jakarta.
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This handout image taken on Jan. 31 by the Myanmar Military Information Team shows Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing speaking in the capital Naypyidaw. (AFP/Handout)
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SEAN chair Cambodia late on Tuesday called on Myanmar’s military junta to “take concrete actions” in building peaceful dialogue with its opposition after a Sunday military air raid in northern Kachin state killed at least 80 people, including civilians.
The raid, commenced on a day where the ethnic minority group gathered in large numbers to enjoy a concert celebrating the Kachin Independence Organization’s founding, has been deemed by analysts as the single-worst air attack since last February’s coup d’etat. Witnesses said that three planes were spotted carrying out the attack, according to local reports.
The ASEAN chair statement noted the organization’s “grave concern” over the escalation of violence in the country and “strongly urged for utmost restraint and the immediate cessation of violence”.
“We are deeply saddened by the growing casualties and the immense suffering that ordinary people in Myanmar have endured. [...] We observe with alarm the latest intensified fighting,” the statement said.
“We urgently call on all parties concerned, in particular one with significant power on the ground, to take concrete actions to enable a process of inclusive and constructive dialogue.”
The recent escalation of violence is in direct violation of the spirit of the Five-Point Consensus and “undermines” the efforts of the ASEAN special envoy assigned to advance its implementation, it added.
The response comes just two days before ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to meet in Jakarta for crunch talks focused on the treatment of the Myanmar coup crisis, as well as a day after hundreds of civil society groups sent an open letter to ASEAN demanding it cut ties with the junta.
