Myanmar junta extends state of emergency, delaying polls

YANGON, July 31 (AFP): Myanmar's junta announced a six-month extension to a state of emergency Monday, signalling a delay to elections they had pledged to hold by August.

The Southeast Asian nation has been ravaged by deadly violence since a coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's government more than two years ago, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent.

Thousands of civilians have been killed and injured as the junta battles a clutch of new and established rebel groups opposed to military rule.

Acting president Myint Swe told a meeting of the junta-stacked National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) that the "state of emergency period would be extended another six months starting from August 1st, 2023".

Myanmar's military-drafted 2008 constitution, which the junta has said is still in force, requires authorities to hold fresh elections within six months of a state of emergency being lifted.

The junta had previously promised fresh polls by August of this year.

Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing explained to the council meeting that fighting and attacks were still happening in Sagaing, Magway, Bago and Tanintharyi regions as well as Karen, Kayah and Chin states.

"We need for a time to continue our duty for systematic preparation as we shouldn't hold coming elections in a rush," he told the gathering.

The junta had already extended the emergency ordinance this year, a day after the NDSC said that the situation had "not returned to normalcy yet".

Min Aung Hlaing said at the time that the military did not "fully control" more than a third of Myanmar's townships.

Anti-coup "People's Defence Forces" that sprang up to overturn the coup have surprised the junta with their effectiveness, analysts say, and have dragged the military into a bloody quagmire.

Junta groups have torched villages, carried out extrajudicial killings and used air strikes and artillery bombardments to punish communities opposed to its rule, opponents and rights groups say.

Min Aung Hlaing hinted in July the military might further extend a state of emergency and delay promised elections, saying greater efforts were needed to end unrest.