This photo taken on December 12, 2023 shows members of ethnic minority armed group Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) standing guard in a temple area of a hill camp seized from Myanmar's military in Namhsan Township in Myanmar's northern Shan State. Nestled in the hills of northern Shan state, the town of Namhsan is the latest to fall to Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fighters since they launched a surprise offensive launched against Myanmar's junta in October. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





This photo taken on December 14, 2023 shows a girl playing in a bomb shelter near her home amid clashes between the ethnic minority armed group Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar's military in Namhsan Township in Myanmar's northern Shan State. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





Hot air balloons fly over Myanmar's ancient temples just before the sunrise on New Year's Day in Bagan, Nyaung U district, central Myanmar, Monday, January 1, 2024. (Photo by Aung Shine Oo/AP Photo)





Members of an honor guard stand at attention during a ceremony marking Myanmar's 76th anniversary of Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Thursday, January 4, 2024. (Photo by Aung Shine Oo/AP Photo)





The commander of an honor guard shouts during a ceremony marking Myanmar's 76th anniversary of Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Thursday, January 4, 2024. (Photo by Aung Shine Oo/AP Photo)





Relatives gather around a bus carrying prisoners being released from Insein prison on Myanmar’s Independence Day in Yangon on January 4, 2024. Myanmar's junta announced an amnesty for more than 9,000 prisoners on January 4, part of an annual release to mark the country's Independence Day. (Photo by AFP Photo)





Family members and colleagues surround released prisoners on bus outside Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, January 4, 2024. Myanmar’s military government on Thursday pardoned nearly 10,000 prisoners to mark the 76th anniversary of gaining independence from Britain, but it wasn’t immediately clear if any of those released included the thousands of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule. (Photo by Thein Zaw/AP Photo)





Fishermen make a splash as they throw conical nets into water at sunrise on the Inle Lake in Myanmar early January 2024. (Photo by Riza Amrullah/Solent News)





Myanmar Hindu devotees try to control a bull during the annual bull taming “Jallikattu” festival in Kyauktan township on the outskirts of Yangon on January 17, 2024. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)





This picture shows an almost empty street during a “silent strike” to protest and to mark the third anniversary of the military coup in Yangon on February 1, 2024. Myanmar on February 1, 2024 entered its fourth year since a coup snuffed out a short-lived dance with democracy, with the embattled junta warning it will do “whatever it takes” to crush opposition to its rule. (Photo by AFP Photo)





This photo taken on February 4, 2024 shows a woman sitting next to a cat in front of her house damaged following fighting between Myanmar's Military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Nam Hpat Kar, Kutkai township in Myanmar's northern Shan State. In late October, an alliance of ethnic minority fighters launched a surprise offensive in northern Shan state, capturing territory and taking control of lucrative trade routes to China. (Photo by AFP Photo)





Local Chinese present a red envelop, or hongbao, to lion dance performers during a cerebration to mark the Lunar New Year at Chinatown Saturday, February 10, 2024, in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Thein Zaw/AP Photo)





People burn incense at a Chinese temple in the Chinatown area of Yangon on February 10, 2024, on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)





Local Chinese artists perform a dragon dance during a cerebration to mark the Lunar New Year at Chinatown Saturday, February 10, 2024, in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Thein Zaw/AP Photo)





Local Chinese pray at a temple during a cerebration to mark the Lunar New Year at Chinatown Saturday, February 10, 2024, in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Thein Zaw/AP Photo)





People burn incense at a Chinese temple in the Chinatown area of Yangon on February 10, 2024, on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)





This photo taken on February 26, 2024 shows displaced residents working in the illegal poppy fields for their livelihood during the fighting between Myanmar' military and KNDF (Karenni Nationalities Defence Force) at Moe Bye in Pekon Township, on the border of Karen State and southern Shan State. In a remote corner of Myanmar a line of farmers move through a field of nodding poppies, making small cuts in the greenish-purple pods to release opium resin. (Photo by AFP Photo)





This photo taken on February 26, 2024 shows displaced residents working in the illegal poppy fields for their livelihood during the fighting between Myanmar' military and KNDF (Karenni Nationalities Defence Force) at Moe Bye in Pekon Township, on the border of Karen State and southern Shan State. In a remote corner of Myanmar a line of farmers move through a field of nodding poppies, making small cuts in the greenish-purple pods to release opium resin. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





Fabrics dry on bamboo scaffolding on Inle lake in Myanmar, March 2024. The cloth will be made into a traditional garment called a longyi, worn by both sexes. (Photo by Hilton Chen/Solent news)





Vendors wear costumes to attract customers along a street in Naypyidaw on March 26, 2024. Myanmar's junta prepared to put on a show of force at the annual Armed Forces Day parade as it struggles to contain escalating violence against its rule. (Photo by AFP Photo)