BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Aviation fuel supplied to junta-ruled Myanmar for civilian planes is being diverted to the military, whose air force has been linked to war crimes, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power last year and launched a brutal crackdown on dissent.
Fighting has flared with ethnic rebel groups as well as newer anti-coup “People’s Defence Forces” and rights groups have accused the military of launching air strikes on civilians that amount to war crimes.
Amnesty tracked eight shipments of aviation fuel arriving at Thilawa port terminal, outside commercial hub Yangon, between February 2021 and September this year, it said in a report released Thursday.
The shipments were handled, stored and distributed by two Myanmar affiliates of oil giant Puma — one of which is a joint venture with a state-owned company.
Some of the shipments were delivered to airports that shared refueling facilities with nearby military bases, Amnesty said, citing satellite data and leaked documents.