Casinos not yet legal in Myanmar
A May 12 attack on a Myanmar casino left 19 people dead, including four security officers.
According to a Reuters news agency report, about 100 insurgents were involved in the action. A Myanmar government spokesman said the attack was eventually repelled by armed police and members of a government-backed “paramilitaries.”
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. TNLA spokesman Colonel Tar Aik Kyaw told Reuters the deadly attack was sparked by the oppression of ethnic minorities in the region, and a response to illegal casinos and drug peddling.
“The militia are protecting the casinos,” he said. “Those casinos are the gateway for distributing drugs. Many civilians go to the casinos and it causes many social problems, so we launched a major assault.”
But government spokesman Saw Htay refuted that assertion, saying, “This is not the ethnic rights movement. This is a terrorist attack.”
The Sydney Morning Herald called the incident a setback for Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy and Myanmar’s de facto leader, who has said it’s her goal to bring an end to longstanding conflicts with ethnic militias.
A statement on the Facebook page of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander in chief of Myanmar’s military, said the attack “left innocent civilians dead. Now government military are clearing the area by fighting back to terrorists.”
The casino was not identified in early news reports, CalvinAyre.com reported. Casino gaming is officially not authorized in Myanmar, but the government is considering bringing legal gaming halls into the country. Meanwhile, a number of illegal operations are purportedly running along the border with China.
The Herald reported that two militia groups made public their plans to target public places with bombs. An explosion at a bank in Lashio in February killed two employees and wounded at least 22 others.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army are among the groups that blame the government for allowing oppression of ethnic minorities and refusing to conduct peace talks.
