Heavy Fighting Erupts East Myanmar

Violent clashes took place in eastern Myanmar near the Thai border, according to a number of eyewitnesses.

An official in Myanmar told Reuters news agency, “Heavy fighting broke out at the Myanmar army’s position opposite Mai Sam Lib.”

He added, "Our security officials are working to assess the situation, but so far there have been no reports on the impact of this on the Thai side."

Myanmar’s pro-democracy activists have fiercely criticized an agreement between Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations “ASEAN” and Myanmar’s military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to end the crisis that followed a violent coup and vowed, on Sunday, to continue protests.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Myanmar during almost daily protests since the February 1 coup.

European Union (EU) decided to impose sanctions against 10 officials and two military-controlled companies over a coup and the suppression of peaceful protests that followed.

In a statement, the EU said that the inpiduals targeted for sanctions are all responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar and Burma, as well as for repressive decisions and gross violations of human rights.

It is worth noting that more than 3,000 people have been arrested since the military coup. Clashes between protesters and military forces have so far killed at least 726 people.

The country has been witnessing a wave of unrest since the military ousted the government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power through a February 1 coup, sparking a nationwide uprising in which protesters called for the restoration of democracy.

U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the bloody crackdown on protesters in Myanmar, as security forces killed more than 100 people, including at least seven children.

“It’s absolutely outrageous and based on the reporting I’ve gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily,” US President Joe Biden told reporters.