YANGON: Myanmar's junta on Tuesday (Dec 30) accused rebels of "malicious and brutal" attacks on the day and eve of military-run elections, wounding at least five civilians with drones, rockets and bombs.
The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup that triggered civil war, but on Sunday, opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledged would return power to the people.
Campaigners, Western diplomats and the United Nations' rights chief condemned the vote, citing a crackdown on dissent and a candidate list stacked with military allies likely to prolong the armed forces' rule.
Pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armies opposing the military have pledged to block the election from the patchwork territories they have carved out in the war.
Between Saturday and Sunday evening they attacked in 11 townships out of the 102 where voting was staged in the election's first phase, according to state media.
The junta-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper listed rebel attacks ranging from "firing homemade heavy weapons and rockets from a distance" to "dropping bombs using drones".
Some were said to directly target polling stations, but others allegedly hit government buildings and civilian settlements.
"While the government and the people were choosing the democratic path, terrorist groups continued violent extremism," said The Global New Light of Myanmar.
The junta also accused the unnamed groups of "issuing threat letters", "spreading false information" and "blocking" would-be voters from travelling to cast ballots.
It said the groups aimed "to disrupt the election process... destroy open polling stations, and intimidate voters".
"Although only five civilians were injured, voters who firmly believed in democracy, had confidence in and supported the election management of the government queued to cast votes," the newspaper added.
While official results have yet to be posted, the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Monday claimed an overwhelming lead in the election's first phase.
The party won 82 out of the 102 lower house seats contested on Sunday, a senior party official told AFP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to disclose the results.
At the last poll in 2020, the USDP was trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which was dissolved after the coup and did not appear on ballots in this election.
The Nobel laureate has been in detention since the putsch.
Many analysts describe the USDP as a military proxy set to entrench the power of the armed forces in civilian guise. - AFP
