Myanmar junta to release more than 9,000 prisoners in Independence Day amnesty

Myanmar’s junta announced an amnesty for 9,652 prisoners, including 114 foreigners, on Thursday, as part of an annual release to mark the country’s Independence Day.

In a statement on Thursday, the State Administration Council, as the junta calls itself, said it had "granted amnesty to prisoners from respective prisons and jails as a gesture for the 76th Independence Day and to respect the peace in peoples' hearts and minds".

The traditional event comes as the army, which took power in a military coup in 2021, faces growing resistance from allied groups in the country's north.