Armed Forces Day commemorates the start of local resistance to the Japanese occupation during World War II, and usually features a military parade attended by foreign officers and diplomats.
Two years after the coup, the situation in Myanmar is a “festering catastrophe”, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said earlier this month, adding that the military was operating with “complete impunity”.
Last Friday, the United States imposed sanctions against two people and six entities connected to Myanmar’s military.
They are accused of enabling its continuing atrocities, including through the import, storage and distribution of jet fuel to the military.
The US Treasury Department targeted Myanmar military aviation fuel suppliers, imposing sanctions on Myanmar-based Asia Sun Group, Asia Sun Trading And Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics.
More than 3,100 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.
More than a million people have been displaced by fighting, according to the UN.
In December, the junta wrapped up a series of closed-court trials of Aung San Suu Kyi, jailing her for a total of 33 years in a process rights groups have condemned as a sham.
