YANGON/TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Myanmar on Saturday marked four years since the coup that ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, with the junta extending a state of emergency the previous day amid an expanding conflict between the military and opposition forces.

The junta, which had planned a general election in 2025, did not mention a date in the Friday announcement. The military will effectively exclude the party of Suu Kyi, who remains under detention, from the election.

Peaceful protests against the Feb. 1, 2021, coup morphed into armed resistance after a harsh military crackdown. Ethnic minority rebels and fighters aligned with a parallel government formed by ousted civilian leaders have been fiercely battling the military, which continues airstrikes in areas under their control.

On Saturday, a "silent strike" in which people were set to stay at home to show their opposition to military rule did not take place in the country's largest city Yangon, unlike on the previous coup anniversaries. Instead, residents were seen conducting everyday activities such as shopping at local markets.

With the seventh six-month extension of a state of emergency, the deadline for holding a general election to restore civilian rule will be pushed back to Feb. 1 next year.

It is believed the military is seeking to use the election to install a civilian administration dependent on it. The opposition forces have vowed to prevent the election from being held.

Neighbor China last year expressed its full support for the election, apparently concerned about the lasting conflict affecting its geostrategic ambitions in Myanmar, from which it imports key natural resources.

Beijing has sought to mediate between the military and some major ethnic minority rebel groups to reach cease-fire agreements. An accord with one of the groups took effect last month.

Over 6,000 civilians have been killed since the coup and more than 3.5 million people displaced within the country, with many more driven across its borders, according to U.N. figures. A number of young people have fled Myanmar to avoid military conscription that began in March last year.

More than 21,700 people are being detained by the military, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group based in neighboring Thailand.

Suu Kyi turned 79 last June, amid increasing concern about her health in detention. Many other executives of her National League for Democracy party have also been detained.

The NLD secured a landslide victory in the 2020 general election. But the party was dissolved by the junta-appointed electoral commission in 2023.

Myanmar's economy has been ravaged by the prolonged conflict, with the public suffering from shortages of food, fuel and other essential goods.

Major cities including Yangon have faced rolling blackouts because of a lack of natural gas.