On the new front line of Myanmar's civil war, resistance fighters are gaining ground

Weapons of war Bullets aside, Myanmar is awash with arms, and the resistance fighters are well equipped with M16s and AK-47s, along with grenade and rocket launchers, mortars, machine guns and sniper rifles. But this pales in comparison to the military, once the second-largest in Southeast Asia, which has spent an estimated US$1-billion importing weapons and raw materials to manufacture arms since the conflict began. Junta gunships and fighter jets are able to rain down death on opposition forces and civilian populations with near impunity, even as their ground troops have struggled with the recent advances. Speaking to The Globe…