The Acting President of Myanmar's exiled National Unity Government (NUG), Duwa Lashi La, has said that the use of armed struggle is necessary to overthrow the Myanmar junta.

Speaking at an NUG internal meeting on Tuesday 24 January, he said that previously many political leaders had rejected the idea of an armed revolution, but that their experiences had now led them to realise that an armed revolution is necessary.

“I think that the Spring Revolution has bought good things out of bad things. There were many political leaders who rejected armed struggle in the past, who now know through experience that Myanmar must focus on an armed struggle to overthrow the dictatorship”, said Duwa Lashi La.

“Despite this, our ultimate goal is to resolve political issues via political dialogues. Unfortunately, the actions of the Burmese military leaders have forced the people to take up arms”, he continued.

“I would like to say clearly that we must complete the work we started”, he concluded.

Following the Myanmar military’s coup on 1 February 2021. The NUG responded by forming its armed groups, the people’s defence forces (PDFs) on 5 May 2021.

According to a June 2021 NUG statement, there are five regional PDF commands, Northern, Southern, Central, Eastern, and Western commands, each of which consists of at least three brigades each made up of five battalions, which in turn are divided into four companies.

There are also other armed groups fighting the junta, but not under the command of the NUG. These groups are often referred to as local defence forces (LDFs).