MYANMAR'S military government granted amnesty to more than 3,000 prisoners today to mark the traditional lunar new year holiday, but it was not immediately clear if those released included the thousands of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule.

State-run MRTV television reported that the State Administration Council, the ruling body created by the military after it seized power in 2021, had pardoned 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners who will be deported.

An official from Yangon’s Insein Prison said that the number and names of people to be freed from the country’s largest penitentiary was not yet known.