Myanmar’s Gen Z combatants: Guerrilla tactics against a military dictatorship
Young soldiers, professors and doctors are organizing at the Loikaw front, near the Thailand border, to win land from the junta that has governed the country since the 2021 coup, and to protect civilians
The mist slowly lifts as the boat moves over the muddy waters of the Salween River in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, close to the border with Thailand. On both banks, green walls of jungle rise up, and an opalescent sky, dotted with leaden clouds, heralds the arrival of a monsoon’s downpour. Young resistance fighters, seated on either side of the boat, tune their assault rifles and monitor the fog around them. Their eyes scan the forest, and every time they hear a distant sound, they turn off the boat’s engine to make sure it’s not the harbinger of an airplane belonging to the military junta that has ruled the country since its February 2021 coup d’état.
