Welcome to the Jungle: An Interview with a Fighter of the Anti-Fascist International Front in Myanmar

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military, Tatmadaw, forced a coup against civilian leadership and formed the State Administrative Council (SAC), a military junta, to govern the country; that wrecked an already frail transition into representational democracy and plunged this poverty-stricken country into a savage civil war that has killed more than 52,000 people, internally displaced more than 3.5 million, and left 22 million civilians in danger of starvation and disease.

In the shadow of the coup, the military responded brutally against mass anti-junta protesters; many Myanmars took up weapons and formed anti-junta resistance groups — including the People’s Defense Forces — and joined up with existing ethnic armed organizations in Myanmar (EAO) to resist the junta. Armed groups have also allied themselves under umbrella organizations, such as the Chin Brotherhood, which is composed of multiple armed organizations and is an offshoot of the Chinland Council; the latter is the main anti-junta political body in western Myanmar’s Chin State.

Since the coup, the opposition has made impressive territorial gains and victories, such as the five-month-long Battle of Falam in the Chin State. Currently, the military controls about 21 percent of the country, while anti-regime forces and EAOs control around 42 percent, with the rest currently being contested.

The most recent mass casualty event of the war happened on October 6, 2025 when regime forces used a paraglider to bomb a Buddhist festival that was also an anti-government protest; at least two dozen people died including two members of the armed resistance group Sagaing Region Strike Forces.

The conflict is complicated due to several reasons: the variety of EAOs and anti-junta groups operating in the country and their differing goals, the influence of China and other countries, and a 7.7 earthquake in March, among other factors.

One such anti-junta force is the Anti-Fascist International Front (AIF), a relatively new armed group that came together before the Battle of Falam. Below, we have an interview with Azad, a fighter of the AIF. Militant Wire co-founder War Noir facilitated and conducted the interview.

(Please note, the subject of this interview is not speaking on behalf of the AIF.)