YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Security forces in central Myanmar opened fire on protesters against the coup, killing at least two people according to local media. A human rights group said growing violence since the February 1 takeover killed at least 550 civilians.
Of these, 46 were children, according to the Myanmar Political Prisoners Assistance Association. According to the group, some 2,751 people have been arrested or convicted.
Threats of lethal violence and arrests of protesters have failed to suppress daily demonstrations across Myanmar to demand the cessation of the military and the return of democratically elected government. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian country.
The Myanmar Now news service reported that government forces fired on protesters in the city of Monywa and killed at least two people. A video posted on social media showed a group of protesters carrying a young man with what appeared to be a serious wound to the head, while shots were fired. His condition was not immediately known.
At least seven people were injured during the shooting, two of whom were seriously injured and detained by soldiers, Myanmar Now said, citing a member of a local rescue team.
On Friday afternoon, armed plainclothes police arrested five people after talking to a CNN reporter at a market in Yangon, the country’s largest city, local media reported citing witnesses. The arrests occurred in three different incidents.
Two women reportedly called for help when they were arrested, according to Myanmar Now. A police officer, who was carrying a gun, asked if “anyone dared to help them,” a witness told the news service.
“They pointed guns at everyone, passers-by and people in the store,” said a witness from two police officers, who forcibly took two other women from the market.
Meanwhile, the Karen National Union, which represents the rebel ethnic minority group that has been fighting the government for decades, condemned “relentless bombing and airstrikes” against peoples and “unarmed civilians” on its land along the border with Thailand.
“The attacks have killed many people, including children and students, and destroyed schools, residential homes and villages. These terrorist acts are clearly a flagrant violation of local and international law,” the group said in a statement. communiqué.
In Karen-controlled areas, more than a dozen civilians have been killed and more than 20,000 displaced since March 27, according to Free Burma Rangers, a relief agency operating in the region.
About 3,000 Karen fled to Thailand, but many have returned in unclear circumstances. Thai authorities said they returned voluntarily, but aid groups say they are unsafe and that many are hiding in the jungle and caves on the Myanmar border side.
More than a dozen minority groups have sought greater autonomy from the central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle. Several of the main groups, including the Kachin, the Karen and the Rakhine Arakan army, have denounced the coup and said they will defend the protesters in their territories.
After weeks of cutting off Internet access overnight, Myanmar’s army closed all links on Friday except those using a fiber-optic cable, which operated at drastically reduced speeds. Access to mobile networks and all wireless connections (the least expensive options used by most people in the developing country) remained blocked on Saturday.
Myanmar languished for five decades under strict military rule, which led to isolation and international sanctions. As the generals eased control, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in the 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.