The protest movement is boosted by rare ethnic solidarity as the nation unifies against the coup. February 27, 2021 Demonstrators wave flags of different ethnic groups during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Credit: AP Photo Advertisement From the streets of Yangon to the mountain strongholds of ethnic peoples, the diverse peoples of Myanmar are forging a rare unity in their nationwide mass protests against the February 1 military coup. Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing had not expected his surgical coup, which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government and shut down parliament, would unleash one of the biggest civil disobedience movements of all time, and the largest general strike in the country’s history