At least 10 people were killed yesterday when Burmese security forces fired on protesters of a military coup as multiple rallies across the nation descended into chaos.
Myanmar has been in an uproar since Feb. 1 when the military launched a coup and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ending the nation’s decade-long experiment with democracy and sparking daily mass protests.
International pressure is mounting — Western powers have repeatedly hit the generals with sanctions — and the UK has called for a UN Security Council meeting tomorrow.
Photo: Reuters
However, the junta has ignored the global condemnation, responding to the uprising with escalating strength, and security services used lethal force on demonstrators again yesterday.
Three cities in central Myanmar saw bloody crackdowns on protesters by security forces, with Monywa in the Sagaing region registering the highest number of deaths with at least seven.
“What we can confirm is seven people have died,” said an emergency doctor, who declined to provide his name.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Multiple medics also said they saw two other people being dragged away by security forces, although they could not get close enough to confirm if they had died.
In Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, two demonstrators were killed, a doctor said, adding that one of the victims was 19 years old and was shot in the head.
A protest in Myingyan also turned deadly when security forces deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds against protesters carrying red home-made shields emblazoned with the three-finger salute — a symbol of resistance for the anti-coup movement.
Several medics confirmed a young man was gunned down.
“Zin Ko Ko Zaw, a 20-year-old, was shot dead on the spot,” a rescue team member said, adding that his team had treated 17 people from the protest.
Local media in Kachin state reported similar scenes of violence, publishing images of police bearing down on protesters in Hpakant.
“Some were hit with rubber bullets and some were suffocating because of tear gas,” a doctor said, adding that his private hospital treated 10 injured people.
Two critically wounded people — one struck in the chest, the other in the neck — had to be driven to the state capital’s hospital about four hours away.
Parts of commercial hub Yangon were transformed, with protesters using makeshift tires and barbed wire barricades to block major roads.
Near the famed Sule pagoda intersection, protesters pasted printouts of Burmese Army Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s face on the ground — a tactic aimed at slowing security forces, who will avoid standing on the portraits.
In San Chaung township, which has been the site of intense clashes in recent days, tear gas and fire extinguisher clouds filled the streets as riot police confronted protesters, while a clash in Yangon’s outskirts left at least 19 people injured.
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