Myanmar junta extends state of emergency

YANGON: Myanmar´s military authorities announced a six-month extension to a state of emergency on Wednesday, likely delaying elections the junta had pledged to hold by August as they battle anti-coup fighters across the country.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the army´s power grab in 2021, and a subsequent crackdown on dissent has sparked fighting across swathes of the nation while tanking the economy. On the second anniversary of the putsch, state media said the National Defence and Security Council had agreed to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing´s request to prolong the state of emergency that was declared when the generals toppled Aung San Suu Kyi´s government. The “state of emergency will be extended for another six months starting from February 1”, Acting President Myint Swe was quoted as saying.