Attack on ASEAN officials delivering aid in Myanmar slammed

ANKARA

Regional leaders have condemned an attack on Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) officials delivering humanitarian aid to refugees in Myanmar.

Although, it remained unclear when and who attacked the officials, the prime minister of Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government, Mahn Win Khaing Than, blamed the country's powerful military junta for the attack that took place in the Shan state.

“Convoy attack in Shan State blamed on PDF (anti-junta People’s Defense Forces) by Myanmar military is implausible,” he tweeted on Monday.

Shan state, the largest of Myanmar's 14 administrative divisions, according to him is "heavily guarded by military and ERO (Ethnic Revolutionary Organization) forces."

"Diplomats were visiting to meet the war refugees. Only those who fear the truth to be revealed are to blame," Than further said.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo also denounced the attack on ASEAN officials, calling for an end to violence in the strife-torn country.

The Indonesian leader, popularly known as Jokowi, did not provide details of the incident but said the officials were attacked while delivering humanitarian aid, the English daily Malay Times reported.

The attack, Jokowi added, would not deter efforts by Jakarta and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to push for peace in Myanmar.

“Stop using force, stop violence because it’s the people who will be victims. This condition will not make anybody win,” he was quoted as saying.

Jakarta encourages all stakeholders to have a dialogue and find solutions, he maintained.

There was no comment from the Myanmar junta till this report was published.

Myanmar has been haunted by a spiral of violence and economic crisis since the military toppled an elected government and launched a brutal onslaught to crush dissent in 2021.

ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member states, including Myanmar, in Southeast Asia. It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, and sociocultural integration among its members in Asia-Pacific.

Soon after the February 2021 coup launched by Myanmar's military, ASEAN issued the Five-Point Consensus plan, also called the 5PCs, when Brunei was at the helm of the regional grouping.

The military takeover triggered mass protests in Myanmar, with the junta's forces killing more than 1,500 people in a crackdown on dissent, according to the local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

While the protests have recently decreased, ASEAN's 5PCs called on all parties in Buddhist-majority Myanmar to cease violence in the country and "exercise utmost restraint."

Under the 5PCs, ASEAN also provides humanitarian assistance to Myanmar through its Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, while its special envoy was assigned to undertake visits to Myanmar to "meet with all parties concerned."

ASEAN has held several summits and meetings since the latest military coup in Myanmar but has stopped inviting junta representatives.