Since the military seized power and ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1, Myanmar has seen daily protests and a surge of violence with security forces killing hundreds of civilians.

The NUG said the new force was a precursor to a Federal Union Army and that it had a responsibility to end decades-old civil wars and deal with “military attacks and violence” by the ruling State Administration Council (SAC) against its people.

The unity government, established last month by an array of groups opposed to the junta, among them ethnic minority militias, has pledged to end violence, restore democracy and build a “federal democratic union”.

Among the NUG’s supporters is the Karen National Union (KNU), the country’s oldest rebel force, whose Brigade 5 on Wednesday told the Karen Information Centre media group its fighters had killed 194 government troops since hostilities resumed in late March.

A spokesman for the junta did not answer a call seeking comment.