Myanmar's military government has announced another six-month extension of its mandate to rule in preparation for elections it has said will be held this year, as the country enters its fifth year of crisis.

Myanmar's ruling military has extended a state of emergency for another six months, state media reported on Friday, a day ahead of the four-year anniversary of a coup that plunged the country into chaos after a decade of tentative democracy.

Myanmar's junta extended a state of emergency by six months on Friday, four years after it seized power triggering a civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. Elections cannot be held under a state of emergency,

Myanmar’s military government extended a four-year emergency rule, further delaying plans for long-promised general elections as a civil war rages on.