Myanmar junta denies rumours of internal coup

Myanmar’s military regime has dismissed rumours that junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has been ousted in an internal coup. In a statement released on Wednesday, the regime’s “Truth Information Committee” categorically denied the claim, which has circulated widely on social media over the past two days. “These false rumours were spread through fake social media accounts and state-destructive (exiled) media outlets to disrupt law and order,” the statement said. Despite the denial, it appears that a number of pro-regime social media accounts have taken the rumours seriously, with some suggesting that Min Aung Hlaing had voluntarily stepped down due to health issues, rather than being removed in a coup. Myanmar’s military is currently seen as being in its weakest position in decades after suffering a series of significant defeats at the hands of an alliance of established armed ethnic groups and post-coup resistance forces. Earlier this month, the regime lost control of Lashio, the largest city in northern Shan State, to opposing forces. Lashio, located on a key China-Myanmar trade route, is also the site of the military’s Northeastern Regional Military Command headquarters, which oversees operations in an area home to various ethnic armed organisations. Resistance forces are now operating within 100 miles of the junta’s administrative capital, Naypyitaw, and have launched attacks on junta bases in central Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing, who has indirectly blamed China for his defeats by ethnic groups along the China-Myanmar border, is scheduled to meet with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Naypyitaw today, according to an AFP report.

Myanmar junta denies rumours of internal coup

Claims that Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the coup regime, has been forced to step down have circulated widely on social media in recent days

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