‘Blood and sweat’: Myanmar resistance fights to overturn military coup

Three years after the generals’ power grab, anti-coup fighters say they want them out of Myanmar’s politics.

On February 1, 2021, a military coup in Myanmar sparked widespread nonviolent protests that quickly turned into an armed uprising after the military responded with brutal force.

Ethnic armed organisations fighting for autonomy along the country’s borders also joined the anti-coup groups in a war, which has since reached an unprecedented scale in Myanmar’s history.

Resistance forces share not only a common enemy but also a desire to overturn Myanmar’s military-dominated political system and establish a federal democracy that grants the right to self-determination for its ethnic minorities.

Al Jazeera spoke with four people who are part of the armed resistance.

They come from different backgrounds and are serving with different groups, but nonetheless share the same broad political goals, as well as a will to advance a more just and equitable society.