Myanmar military scales back annual parade as fighting escalates

BANGKOK/NAYPYITAW -- The annual parade to mark Myanmar's Armed Forces Day took place on Wednesday night in the capital Naypyitaw with fewer personnel and less weaponry than usual, indicating the military is prioritizing handling escalating offensives by ethnic minority armed groups.

Armed Forces Day, tracing back to the 1945 uprising against Japan, is a key event in the military's calendar, but only 7,750 personnel joined this year's parade, down from 8,424 in 2023.