BANGKOK -- Tensions in Myanmar are expected to escalate after the military government declared martial law in 37 of the country's 330 townships, signaling a renewed effort to wipe out the resistance.
The move, which came on Thursday, a day after authorities extended a national state of emergency by six months, largely affects areas with heavy fighting between the military and rebel groups. A quarter or more of townships in the Sagaing region and Chin state in the northwest, as well as in Kayah state in the east, are now under martial law.
