A convoy carrying ASEAN diplomats was attacked by gunfire Sunday morning in Burma ahead of an ASEAN summit in Indonesia, military and diplomatic sources said on Monday.
A group of several vehicles were “attacked” by an armed group as they drove through the town of Taunggyi in eastern Shan State on Sunday morning, a foreign diplomat from Shan State told AFP Yangon on condition of anonymity.
A senior army officer, who also asked not to be identified, confirmed to AFP that a convoy of firearms was indeed attacked.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo spoke Monday of a “shootout” on the convoy’s route en route to “distribute humanitarian aid,” without giving further details.
The convoy was carrying representatives from the embassies of Indonesia and Singapore, as well as officials from the ASEAN regional branch in charge of humanitarian aid, the diplomatic source said.
No victims have been identified, the same source added.
The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN), which has been regularly criticized for its inaction in Burma, are scheduled to meet Tuesday through Thursday on the island of Flores, Indonesia. The conflict in Burma will be a big issue there.
The Indonesian and Singaporean embassies in Yangon did not immediately respond to AFP’s inquiries.
The violence that has swept through Burma since the 2021 coup has hit southern Shan State, where Taunggyi is located, relatively little.
But in March around 30 people were killed in the region taking refuge in a monastery, with the military junta and anti-junta rebels blaming each other.
ASEAN’s efforts to find a way out of the crisis have so far been unsuccessful, as the military regime has remained deaf to international condemnation and refused to speak to its opponents, including former parliamentarians, the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) – the new Pro – opposition to democracy – and armed ethnic minority groups.