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The
National Unity Government had announced it would form a People's
Defence Force to challenge the army, which seized power on Feb.
1, ousting elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and plunging the
Southeast Asian country into chaos.
The video of the graduation ceremony was released on Friday in
the name of Yee Mon, the shadow government's defence minister.
"This military is established by the official civilian
government," an unidentified officer says at the ceremony. "The
People's Defence Force must be aligned with the people and
protect the people. We will fight to win this battle."
A junta spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment.
The military authorities say the National Unity Government is
treasonous and that both it and the People's Defence Force have
been designated as terrorist groups.
The video shows around 100 fighters marching on a muddy parade
ground in the jungle. They march in new camouflage uniforms
behind the flags of the new force, red with a white star. They
are not shown carrying weapons.
Nearly four months after the coup, the army is still struggling
to impose order.
Anti-military protests take place daily in many parts of the
country, strikes by opponents of the junta have paralysed
business and fighting has flared with ethnic armed groups that
oppose the junta and new militias formed to oppose it.
Two homemade bombs exploded in the main city of Yangon on
Saturday, apparently targeting a police post and an army truck,
the Mizzima news service said. It said one person speaking to
the soldiers had been wounded in the second incident.
The junta's forces have killed over 800 people since the coup,
according to figures cited by the United Nations. More than
4,000 people have been detained.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says the civilian death toll is
nearer 300 and has said around 50 members of the police have
been killed. He gave no figure for soldiers. Groups fighting the
armed forces say they have inflicted scores of casualties.
The army justified its coup on the grounds of fraud in an
election swept by Suu Kyi's party in November. The allegations
were rejected by the previous electoral commission. Suu Kyi, 75,
is on trial on a series of charges that her lawyers say are
politically motivated.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Matthew Tostevin;
Editing by William Mallard)
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