"We urge armed minority groups, terrorist rebel groups, and terrorist PDF groups fighting against the state to give up terrorist struggles and communicate with us to resolve political problems through political means,” says the junta in a statement on Thursday.
PDF is an abbreviation for People's Defence Forces, which are civilian groups that have taken up arms in the fight against the military regime.
This is the first time the junta has extended an olive branch to its opponents since the junta seized power in a coup in February 2021, which plunged Myanmar into civil war. The junta has lost control over large parts of the country to the armed opposition. Thousands have been killed and tens of thousands have been arrested.
The military has lost large parts of its territory in border areas over the past year following a major surprise offensive led by a trio of armed groups from minority groups.
The groups have taken control of lucrative border crossings and last month they captured Lashio, a city with 150,000 inhabitants – the largest urban center to fall into the rebels' hands since 1962.
Besides fighting to maintain power over the country, the junta is also struggling with the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, where more than 400 people died and hundreds of thousands are still in need of assistance.
The UN warned last week that Myanmar was on the verge of plummeting into an "abyss" for human rights and detailed the shocking torture inflicted by the military on people in its custody.
