YANGON: At least seven individuals had been killed as Myanmar security forces fired on protesters on Wednesday (Mar 3), medics say.
This comes after the junta hit half a dozen detained journalists, together with an Associated Press photographer, with criminal charges.
The nation has been in chaos since Feb 1 when the army launched a coup and detained civilian chief Aung San Suu Kyi, ending Myanmar’s decade-long experiment with democracy and sparking each day mass protests.
International stress is mounting – Western powers have repeatedly hit the generals with sanctions – and Britain has known as for a United Nations Security Council assembly on Friday.
READ: Myanmar junta charges 6 journalists, including AP photographer
But the junta has ignored the worldwide condemnation, responding to the rebellion with escalating pressure, and security forces used deadly pressure on demonstrators once more on Wednesday.
Police fire tear fuel at protesters in Sanchaung, Yangon on Mar 3, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Police fire tear fuel at protesters in Sanchaung, Yangon on Mar 3, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Four individuals had been shot dead throughout a protest in a metropolis in central Myanmar, based on medics who spoke to AFP by cellphone.
Another two demonstrators died about two hours’ drive away in Mandalay, the nation’s second greatest metropolis, medics advised AFP.
One of the victims in Mandalay was shot within the head and the opposite within the chest, based on a physician, who requested to not be named.
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A protest within the central metropolis of Myingyan additionally turned violent, as security forces confronted protesters in laborious hats crouching behind pink home-made shields emblazoned with the three-finger salute – a logo of resistance for the anti-coup motion.
“They fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and live rounds,” a volunteer medic on the scene advised AFP, including that at least 10 individuals had been injured.
Protesters run away as police fire tear fuel in Sanchaung, Yangon on Mar 3, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Protesters run away as police fire tear fuel in Sanchaung, Yangon on Mar 3, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Thet Thet Swe, from Myingyan rescue clinic, confirmed a younger man was shot within the head and died.
“Zin Ko Ko Zaw, a 20-year-old was shot dead on the spot and my team treated 17 injured people,” a second rescue group member advised AFP.
Two rescue group members in north-western Monywa mentioned they noticed security forces taking away two people.
“DEMOCRACY IS OUR CAUSE”
Demonstrations additionally continued throughout Yangon, Myanmar’s largest metropolis, on Wednesday, with protesters utilizing makeshift tyre and barbed wire barricades to dam main roads and sluggish the police.
In downtown Pansodan Road, close to the famed Sule pagoda intersection, protesters pasted print-outs of junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s face on the bottom – a tactic aimed at slowing down security forces who will keep away from standing on the portraits.
In San Chaung township, which has been the positioning of intense clashes in current days, tear fuel and fire extinguisher clouds crammed the streets as riot police confronted protesters.
READ: Southeast Asian nations urge halt to violence in Myanmar
There had been additionally chaotic scenes at North Okkalapa – a civil society well being clinic confirmed 19 injured individuals had arrived for medical therapy.
“Some got hit with rubber bullets, some fell down and some were beaten. We had to transfer one man to hospital for a operation because a rubber bullet hit his head. We do not have a surgeon here,” an official advised AFP.
Sunday was the bloodiest day since the military takeover, with the UN saying at least 18 protesters had been killed throughout the nation.
In Dawei on Wednesday, one among 4 gunshot victims from Sunday was cremated.
Mourners held floral wreaths and portraits of Lwin Lwin Oo, 33, as coffin bearers had been flanked by lots of chanting: “We are united, yes we are … to get democracy is our cause”.
Wednesday’s violence got here after the overseas ministers of Southeast Asian nations – together with Myanmar’s junta consultant Wunna Maung Lwin – mentioned the disaster at a digital assembly.
After the talks Indonesia’s Retno Marsudi expressed frustration over the junta’s lack of cooperation.
Singapore – which is Myanmar’s largest investor – condemned the authorities’ use of deadly pressure, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong telling the BBC that it was “unacceptable”.
READ: ASEAN must reiterate guiding principles when it comes to situation in Myanmar: Vivian Balakrishnan
READ: Myanmar military’s use of lethal force ‘disastrous’, but sense can still prevail: PM Lee
JOURNALISTS CHARGED
AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32, was arrested on Saturday as he lined an indication in Myanmar’s business hub Yangon, his lawyer advised AFP on Wednesday.
Thein Zw and 5 different Myanmar journalists had been charged beneath a legislation in opposition to “causing fear, spreading false news or agitating directly or indirectly a government employee”, based on the lawyer, Tin Zar Oo.
The junta amended the legislation final month, to extend the utmost sentence from two years to a few years in jail.
“Ko Thein Zaw was merely reporting consistent with press freedom legislation – he wasn’t protesting, he was simply doing his work, the lawyer, Tin Zar Oo, mentioned, including that every one six had been being held at Insein jail in Yangon.
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The other five journalists are from Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet Online news and a freelancer, according to AP.
AP’s vice-president of international news Ian Philips called for Thein Zaw’s immediate release.
“Independent journalists should be allowed to freely and safely report the information with out worry of retribution,” he said.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, more than 1,200 people have been arrested since the coup, with about 900 still behind bars or facing charges.
But the real number is likely far higher – state-run media reported that on Sunday alone more than 1,300 people were arrested.
AAPP says that 34 journalists are among those detained, with 15 released so far.
The most recent confirmed arrest came on Monday, when a Myanmar journalist with broadcasting service Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) live-streamed a late-night raid on his house.
The footage – posted on DVB’s Facebook web page – appeared to point out loud bangs exterior his residence constructing as he pleaded with authorities to not shoot.
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source https://infomagzine.com/7-dead-as-myanmar-security-forces-fire-at-protesters/
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