Myanmar military reverts to strategy of massacres, burnings

By SAM McNEIL, DAVID RISING and RISHABH R. JAIN
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — An AP investigation reveals signs Myanmar’s military is reverting to a strategy of massacres as a weapon of war. The massacres and scorched-earth tactics _ such as the razing of entire villages _ represent the latest escalation in the military’s violence against both civilians and the growing opposition. Since the military seized power in February, it has cracked down ever more brutally, abducting young men and boys, killing health care workers and torturing prisoners. They signal a return to practices that the military has long used against ethnic minorities but this time, the military is also using the same methods against people and villages of its own Buddhist Bamar ethnic majority.