Burmese security forces deployed again Tuesday March 9 in the country’s largest city, the economic capital Yangon, to step up raids on homes and arrests after surrounding hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in the city center the night before.
Roads in Yangon were blocked by the military as shopkeepers rushed to sell their goods before further violence erupted, according to an AFP correspondent.
On Monday night, hundreds of protesters, including many Burmese women who had come to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, were besieged for hours in Yangon’s “Three Bridges district,” the scene of numerous anti-military coup rallies in recent days.
Hundreds of residents took to the streets in support of the besieged demonstrators, defying the curfew imposed by authorities. They chanted “Free the students” as security forces opened fire, including with concussion grenades, in an attempt to disperse them. The protesters were able to leave the neighborhood in the early morning hours.
Burmese security forces searched apartment homes in the city today looking for protesters. The sound of detonations was often heard. Police checked all the houses on the street one by one,” said one resident. They came to our apartments, but we didn’t hide anyone” and they left.
Another said, “They [police] told us not to look at them or they would shoot. Still another said, ” Houses with the red flag of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the NLD, on their roofs were targeted for special searches.
Burmese state media warned that “anyone found hiding protesters will be punished.” It also threatened that “the government’s patience is running out” after five weeks of daily pro-democracy demonstrations. The official media said so, making the outside world worry about the Burmese military to the pro-democracy faction of large-scale use of force.
The United Nations urged the Burmese military authorities to “exercise maximum restraint” and “release” the demonstrators. Similar messages were broadcast by the European Union representation in Burma, the U.S. Embassy and the embassy of former Burmese colonial power Britain.
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