Myanmar

Myanmar

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Myanmar military takes control of country after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar military takes control of country after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi 
BBC News

Myanmar's military has taken control of the country after Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders were arrested in the early hours.

Hours after the arrests, military TV confirmed a state of emergency had been declared for one year.

The coup comes after tensions rose between the civilian government and the military following a disputed election.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the military until democratic reforms began in 2011.

The military said on Monday it was handing power to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing. Soldiers are on the streets of the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and the main city, Yangon.

In November's election, Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won enough seats to form a government. The army says the vote was fraudulent.

The BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, says the coup appears to be a clear violation of the constitution drafted by the military more than a decade ago, and which it promised to honour only on Saturday.

Detaining political leaders like Ms Suu Kyi is a provocative and very risky move, one which may well be strongly opposed, our correspondent says.

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Military chief Min Aung Hlaing has taken the reigns