The U.S. government Friday announced sanctions on five people and five entities connected to Myanmar’s military.
Those sanctioned include a military unit, arms dealers, military leaders, and companies and individuals working in the defense sector.
“As we approach one year since the horrific violence perpetrated by the Burmese military on Armed Forces Day 2021, in which more than 100 people were killed, the United States is imposing sanctions on five Burmese individuals and five entities in response to the regime’s brutal crackdown against the people of Burma,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“Since the February 2021 military coup, the military regime has only intensified its violent crackdown and killed more than 1,700 people, including women, children and aid workers,” he added.
The sanctioned will have access to assets in the U.S. restricted or blocked. U.S. companies will also be restricted from doing business with those sanctioned.
The move followed the U.S. designation of the Myanmar government’s treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority as genocide earlier this week.
The government of Myanmar has already been sanctioned by the U.S. and other countries over the treatment of Rohingya Muslims as well as over the military coup in February 2021.
