At least 2,000 pro-democracy fighters have been killed in Myanmar battling a military junta that seized power last year, the head of a parallel civilian government said in an interview aired on Thursday, urging allies to provide military aid.
Duwa Lashi La, acting president of the National Unity Government, comprised of remnants of the administration of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, was speaking to the Reuters NEXT conference from an undisclosed location in Myanmar.
“We regard (the deaths) as the price we must pay,” said Duwa Lashi La, a former teacher and lawyer in his seventies who fled his home in Kachin, northern Myanmar, with his family.
The military has branded him and his colleagues “terrorists” and banned citizens from communicating with them, but their parallel civilian government enjoys widespread support.
Allied armed groups known as People’s Defense Forces have emerged across the country.
Mr La has been pictured…
