Rights groups say Myanmar military is increasing air attacks

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Human rights monitoring groups say Myanmar’s military is increasingly turning to airstrikes with deadly results to try to crush stiff armed resistance, two years after it seized power and plunged the country into a prolonged civil war. According to the non-governmental organization Myanmar Witness and other experts, the military is heavily reliant on fighter jets and helicopter gunships supplied by its allies Russia and China. The underground National Unity Government says 460 civilians, mostly children, have lost their lives in airstrikes. The opponents of military rule have virtually no access to sophisticated weapons to combat air attacks. They called for an embargo on the sale of aviation fuel to Myanmar on top of existing Western sanctions.