Almost two months after the military seized power, people across Myanmar doggedly continued the fight to topple the regime on Thursday with protests in towns and cities across the country.
Once again, the military responded with murderous attacks, killing at least 12 people. Fatalities were confirmed in Shan State’s Taunggyi, Kachin state’s Mohnyin and Sagaing region’s Tamu and Khin-U, as well as in Yangon and Bago regions.
The regime has now killed 320 people, including 20 children, in its bid to crush the democratic uprising, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Thursday’s renewed protests came a day after the country observed a “Silent Strike”. Businesses closed and people stayed in their homes as streets remained empty of pedestrians and cars.
The action was a show of strength and unity in response to the military’s hamfisted efforts to resume business as usual and force the economy to reopen after weeks of devastating strikes. It was also aimed at allowing people a chance to rest.
Here is a roundup of Thursday’s violence by region, as well as some additional details from Wednesday night that have now been confirmed:
Taunggyi, Shan state
Four people were killed and several, including a pregnant woman, were injured when soldiers opened fire on protesters in Taunggyi, locals said. The troops also used tear gas and rubber bullets during the attack.
Photos taken by locals and circulated on social media showed the regime’s forces beating residents and destroying their properties.
One of the four who died was 29-year-old Swar Thit, from the town’s largely Muslim Kanthar ward. He was shot in one of his eyes and his right thigh, one of his relatives said.
“He was at a shop to buy a phone top-up,” he told Myanmar Now. “He ran when he saw troops as he exited the shop after buying a 1,000 kyat top-up and some bread. He was shot there. [The bullet] penetrated his body and hit the wall. There is a chip in it.”
Soldiers later took away the body. The relative went to the Sao San Tun Hospital in Taunggyi to retrieve it but was refused. “I asked one of the doctors there and he said there are four dead bodies. I saw bodies put in black sacks there,” he said.
At around 6pm, a 35-year-old pregnant woman named Khin Khin Win was shot in her left thigh as she was coming back from the market. She is also a mother of two.
Residents said the army used drone cameras to watch over residential areas but Myanmar Now was unable to verify this.
Sources from the town said nearly 60 people were arrested during Thursday’s attacks and several people had their mobile phones seized.
Mohnyin, Kachin state
Forty-year-old Win Swe was shot in the abdomen and killed in Mohnyin when the junta’s forces opened fire on a crowd that had gathered in front of the police station to demand the release of nine protesters who were arrested on Thursday morning.
“At first, the police just said to disperse. Later a truck full of soldiers arrived and opened fire,” said a member of an aid group that is helping the injured.
Win Swe was a gasoline seller and a resident of the Aung Thabyay ward in Mohnyin.
Two other people in their 30s were severely injured during the attack, Mohnyin locals said.
A local charity group helping locals injured in the crackdowns told Myanmar Now that a 20-year-old man was also killed by the junta’s troops on Thursday afternoon.
The victim was Soe Naing Tun, a student at Myitkyina Technology University. He was shot in the head while hiding under a bridge from the junta’s troops.
Tamu, Sagaing region
In Tamu, the regime’s armed forces killed a 33-year-old man after an attack on a residential area at around 11pm on Thursday.
The victim was identified as Myo Min Aung. He died from a gunshot to the chest, according to family members.
“The bullet penetrated through the right side of his chest. He received two units of blood in a transfusion, but the bullet wound was just too big. He died at around midnight,” the victim’s brother told Myanmar Now.
Myo Min Aung left behind a wife and a two-year-old son.
Khin-U, Sagaing region
In Khin-U, troops from a battalion in nearby Shwebo attacked a pro-democracy demonstration and killed two 19-year-old demonstrators, according to a member of a local rescue team and residents.
The two victims were named Zaw Win Maung and Toe Zaw Aung.
“We had blocked main roads in town and troops from Shwebo came on foot to where we were at around midday. They started shooting as soon as they arrived,” a Khin-U resident said.
Three protesters were injured due to the shooting, he added.
The injured, including Zaw Win Maung and Toe Zaw Aung, were treated at a local monastery, which was raided by regime troops.
“They took an injured protester while we were providing treatment,” a rescue team member who was at the monastery told Myanmar Now. “Another person [who they took away] had been shot in the left arm. The bullet didn’t even hit the bone, but he was dragged away by the troops before we were able to attend to him.”
Most of the medics and rescue workers fled the monastery when the troops arrived, but one nurse was taken along with the two injured people, he said.
“The nurse who was taken away with them later informed us that the two bled to death on the truck,” he said, referring to Zaw Win Maung and Toe Zaw Aung.
On Wednesday night police arrested a group of 14 volunteer night guards in Aung Chan Thar ward. Residents then surrounded the police station to demand their release.
Police shot at the crowd outside the station but later released the night guards, a local said.
Pyu, Bago region
The victim shot dead in Pyu on Thursday was 20-year-old Yan Aung.
He was shot in the lower abdomen with live ammunition during an attack by the junta’s armed forces on a crowd of protesters. They had gathered to demand the release of another young person who had been arrested: the son of National League for Democracy parliamentarian Kyaw Aye Win, according to a Facebook post by the MP.
“As we entered the hospital and doctors there were preparing the IV to do a transfusion, he died [from his injury],” Yan Aung’s father Ngwe Thein told Myanmar Now.
A funeral for Yan Aung will be held on Saturday afternoon, he added.
During the attack, another woman was injured by a gunshot to her shoulder, Pyu locals said.
Yangon
In Yangon’s South Dagon township, the coup regime’s armed forces violently cracked down on a nighttime vigil in Ward 27 on Thursday, leaving two people dead and nearly 10 injured.
Naing Ye Lin, 28, was shot in the head and died at the scene. Aung Tun Aye, 32, was shot in the thigh and bled to death early Friday morning, according to locals.
A South Dagon resident told Myanmar Now that family members rushed to hold funerals for both men on Friday morning, because they were worried that members of the military would come and seize Naing Ye Lin and Aung Tun Aye’s bodies.
The armed forces retreated from the area following an initial attempted crackdown on the vigil after residents of the neighbourhood surrounded them. Moments later, they returned, shooting into the crowd with both rubber bullets and live ammunition.
One of the 10 people injured in the shooting was shot in the abdomen, and was in “worrying” condition, locals said.
Mandalay
A junta crackdown on a nighttime protest in Mandalay’s Kyaukpadaung township on Wednesday night left one person dead and three severely injured, a local rescue worker said. The protest was held to mark the end of the day’s Silent Strike.
Soldiers attacked the protest at around 8pm. Kyi Sett Hlaing, 23, was shot in the thigh and bled to death at around 11pm after he was unable to access medical treatment.
The rescue worker said his charity was delayed trying to reach injured protesters because there were soldiers patrolling the main road in the town in search of people who had left broken glass out to slow the advance of military vehicles.
“They were looking for those who shattered glass on the road, so we couldn’t go freely,” he said.
Also on Wednesday night, in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi township, a 16-year-old boy was killed during an attack on residents who were banging pots at Sein Pan street near the intersection of 66th and 67th streets, a doctor who helped treat the injured told Myanmar Now.
The victim was identified as Phoe Hti. He was shot in the back by the junta’s troops, according to his relatives.The shootings started at 8:30pm and at least five other residents were injured, a rescue team said.
Before the shooting, soldiers shouted: “If you have courage, come out now!” a resident said.
“After we banged pots, they came in shouting ‘Who has the courage? Who was banging pots? Come out now!’ They then went around shooting. I’ve heard that some night watchmen were shot,” the resident added.
One person was shot in the abdomen and the other in the leg, she added.
“No rescue team has arrived, they have been left just like that,” she added, speaking at around 9pm on Wednesday. “We don’t dare to go out to look either.”
Ambulances were able to enter the area around 9:30pm that night and took the injured people to a clinic, a doctor said.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 26 to amend the total number of confirmed deaths on March 25 from six to 12, as well as to integrate further information about the victims in Mohnyin, Tamu, Khin-U, Pyu and Yangon that was not available at the original time of reporting.
