YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Security forces stormed a city in northwest Myanmar on Wednesday where some residents had used homemade hunting rifles to resist the February takeover, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding many others, according to report local news.
If the eleven deaths are confirmed, it would be one of the highest one-day death rates outside the country’s two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay.
The online news site Khonumthung Burmese said the attack on Kalay began before dawn. The site’s videos included what looked like rifle fire sounds, high-caliber weapons and grenade blasts. Posts on social media said rocket-propelled grenades were used in the attack, but did not provide any evidence.
The news site said that in addition to the seven fatalities, many people were injured and arrested in the city, also known as Kalemyo or Kale. More than half of the city’s population belongs to the Chin ethnic minority.
Most of the deaths occurred in the morning, but were recorded more in the afternoon, bringing the total to 11, according to news sites The Irrawaddy and Myanmar Now.
Security forces have killed at least 581 protesters and bystanders as of Tuesday in their crackdown on protests against the February 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, according to the Association. of Assistance for Political Prisoners, which controls casualties and arrests.
Almost all the protests have been nonviolent, but as police and soldiers have increased their use of lethal force, some participants have armed themselves with homemade weapons such as gas bombs for self-defense. In Kalay, some residents grabbed simple but deadly homemade rifles.
Myanmar Now reported on Tuesday that protesters in Kalay had set up neighborhood strongholds and caused casualties to security forces.
He said that on March 28, when the army tried to attack Kalay, protesters from the city and nearby villages put up fierce resistance. The attack came a day after junta forces killed more than 110 people across the country, the highest number of deaths in a single day since the coup.
The report said the protesters “remained more than their own. Four of them were killed that night, but also an equal number of enemies, including an officer or two. The protesters also managed to injure 17 of their attackers. heavily armed “.
The protesters, who have organized into a “Kalay civilian army,” caused lower casualties in the following days, he said.
Daily protests against the military government continued Wednesday in other cities and towns, including Mogok, in central Myanmar, and Bago, northeast of Yangon, where social media said security forces fired live ammunition against the protesters. The news site Irrawaddy reported two deaths in Bago.
Dozens burned a Chinese flag and marched on Ahlone Township in Yangon, calling for a boycott of Chinese-made products. Many protesters believe that Beijing supports the military regime with economic and political support, including the threat of a veto on the UN Security Council against any international sanctions.