Defense chiefs from a dozen countries yesterday jointly condemned the bloodbath in Myanmar a day earlier, when at least 107 people — including seven children — were killed as security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military on Feb. 1 ousted and detained Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering mass protests demanding a return to democracy.
The junta on Saturday staged a major show of might for its annual Armed Forces Day as the death toll from crackdowns since the coup climbed to at least 423, a local monitoring group said.
Photo: AP
The defense chiefs of 12 countries, including Australia, Japan, the UK and the US, condemned the Burmese military’s use of lethal force against civilians.
“A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves,” the statement said.
“We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions,” it said.
Funerals were held yesterday for some of the victims, after the bloodiest day since the putsch.
In Mandalay, the family of Aye Ko, a father of four, commemorated his life at a service after he was killed overnight.
“I am very saddened to lose my husband — together with my children I’m heartbroken,” his wife, Ma Khaing, told reporters.
Relatives of 13-year-old boy Sai Waiyan, who was shot on Saturday playing outside his house in Yangon, cried over his casket yesterday afternoon, local media reported.
Despite the dangers, protesters yesterday hit the streets again in parts of Yangon, including Hlaing, and in the cities of Dawei, Bago, Myingyan and Monywa.
“One girl was shot in the head and died at the hospital, meanwhile two guys were shot dead on the spot,” a rescue worker from Monywa told reporters.
There was also a death in Myingyan — one woman was killed and two others injured, a medic said.
In Hlaing, a 16-year-old boy lost a hand in a blast, trying to throw back a grenade that security forces had lobbed at protesters, a rescue worker said.
A day earlier there were brutal military crackdowns at more than 40 locations across the country. The Mandalay and Yangon regions saw the majority of deaths, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.
The UN put Saturday’s death toll at 107 people — including seven children — but expected it to rise further.
“The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police — who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children — must be halted immediately,” UN envoys Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Michelle Bachelet said in a joint statement.
Rebels in eastern Myanmar’s Karen State said they had been targeted in airstrikes late on Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base.
Hsa Moo, an ethnic Karen and human rights advocate, said three people were killed and at least eight injured.
It was the first air assault in 20 years in the state, and targeted the Fifth Brigade of the Karen National Union — one of the country’s largest armed groups — which says it represents the ethnic Karen people.
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