Naypyitaw: Myanmar has come ahead seeking international help for arming insurgent groups with sophisticated weapons by China.
In a recent interview to Russian state-run TV channel Zvezda, Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said terrorist organisations active in Myanmar are backed by ‘strong forces’ and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups.
China is providing 95 per cent of the Arakan Army funding and the army has approximately 50 of the MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) surface-to-air missiles.
“An object lesson in diplo-terrorism is the leverage over Myanmar and India that China gained by arming the Arakan Army, operating in the corridor form North-East India over Myanmar’s Chin and Rakhine states to the Indian Ocean,” according to Licas News reported.
The Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) are terrorist organisations active in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar that borders China.
The terror group had earlier used China-made weapons in mine attacks on the military in 2019.
This is not the first time Myanmar has pointed fingers at China. Earlier when the Myanmar military busted a huge cache of weapons from the banned Ta’ang National Liberation Army in November 2019, the military had underslined the Chinese connection to the weapons.
The Myanmarese ethnic rebel groups on the China border use Chinese weapons, indirectly aiming to keep Myanmar under Chinese control.
