Myanmar’s military government declares Karen ethnic rebels a terrorist group as elections loom

Myanmar’s military government on Thursday formally applied the designation of terrorist organization to the Karen National Union, a major ethnic rebel group, making virtually any activities connected with it illegal, including contact by third parties.

The group, better known by the initials KNU and located in the country’s southeast, has been fighting on and off for greater autonomy from the central government since Myanmar became independent from Britain in 1948 under the name of Burma.

The KNU has been engaged in especially fierce combat with the army since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

The announcement came just four months before the military’s planned elections begin on Dec. 28, which the KNU has vowed to disrupt. The terrorist designation would make it more difficult to carry out any activities hindering the polls, even nonviolent information campaigns, which already have been declared illegal.

Read more: NBC News