The military staged a coup in Myanmar on Monday, taking over the government of the impoverished south-east Asian country for the third time since independence from Britain in 1948.
The military has detained Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and has announced a state of emergency under which it has taken control of the nation for a period of one year.
Suu Kyi was detained in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw before dawn on Monday, along with the country’s President Win Myint.
The Chief Minister of Karen State was also held along with several other regional ministers. Soldiers also seized the city hall in Myanmar’s former capital Yangon.
According to an AFP report, the military coup took place just hours before Myanmar’s parliament was scheduled to resume for the first time since the November elections.
The military coup has come after several weeks of rising differences with the country’s civilian government over allegations of fraud during the elections held in November 2020.
The military had claimed that there were irregularities in the elections, which Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party had won easily.
The military, which has ruled Myanmar for nearly five decades, had signaled last week that it may seize power once again.