Myanmar police fired tear gas canisters in Mandalay on Sunday (March 7) to disperse thousands of sit-in protesters. Meanwhile, protests were also seen in at least six other cities.
Security forces crushed many of the protests.
Video shows police firing tear gas and dazzling bullets at demonstrators in Yangon, the country’s main city, and Lashio, the capital of northern Shan State. The video shows a witness saying police opened fire to break up protests in the historic temple town of Bagan. Some residents said on social media that police used live ammunition.
Video released by Myanmar News Group (Myanmar Now) shows soldiers beating men in Yangon. At least three protests were held despite overnight arrests of event leaders and opposition activists by security forces.
The United Nations says security forces have killed more than 50 people in breaking up daily demonstrations and strikes since the Southeast Asian country’s military toppled the elected government and arrested elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1.
One protest leader told a crowd of demonstrators in the southern Burmese town of Dawei, “What if we don’t resist them? We have to resist.”
A member of the now-defunct parliament said on Facebook that a local campaign manager for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy died Saturday night after being arrested in Yangon. The cause of death of Khin Maung Latt was not immediately clear, but Reuters saw a photo of his body with a blood-soaked cloth on his head.
Residents of the city said soldiers and police entered several districts overnight and opened fire. Residents of the town of Keoktada said police arrested at least three people in the town. They do not know the reason for the arrests.
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