ASEAN leaders 'deeply concerned' with Myanmar violence

May 10 (UPI) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations said Wednesday at the start of a two-day Indonesian summit that it is "deeply concerned" about the ongoing violence in Myanmar, including a recent attack on a humanitarian aid convoy.

The escalating conflict in military-ruled Myanmar is the top issue for the nine active leaders of ASEAN nations at the biannual meeting being held in the town of Labuan Bajo on the southeastern island of Flores.

"We were deeply concerned with ongoing violence in Myanmar and urged the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and the use of force," ASEAN said in the statement.

The summit begins just days after an attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying humanitarian aid and diplomats from Indonesia and Singapore in Myanmar's eastern Shan state.

The leaders "condemned the attack and underlined that the perpetrators must be held accountable."

Myanmar has been wracked by violence since the military seized power from the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 coup.

Civil disobedience and nationwide protests sprung up immediately after the coup, which the junta brutally suppressed and have since hardened into an internal conflict that some describe as a full-fledged civil war.

Nearly 22,000 protesters and activists have been arrested and 3,486 have been killed since the military seized power, according to Thailand-based watchdog Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that Myanmar's military committed an "apparent war crime" when it dropped a thermobaric munition on a building in opposition-controlled territory in April, killing more than 160 people.

ASEAN issued a five-point consensus in April 2021 aimed at ending the violence, but Myanmar's military leaders have failed to follow through on the peace plan and are barred from attending the group's summits.

"We supported the efforts of the chair of ASEAN, including its continued engagements with all stakeholders in Myanmar, to encourage progress in the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus," the ASEAN leaders' statement said.