Junta ramps up violence as it cracks down on protests around the country

Myanmar’s junta stepped up its campaign to end anti-military protesters in Yangon and elsewhere on Saturday, three weeks after the start of daily protests and rallies against the February 1 coup.

In Monywa, a town in central Myanmar, security forces shot a woman in the chest with live ammunition. An emergency worker told local news outlet 7Day that the woman was in critical condition and has been admitted to a hospital. 

No further details were available. 

Photos circulating on social media showed security forces, including those in plainclothes, slapping an arrested woman, kicking a man onto a police truck, and violently arresting journalists.

According to the Monywa Gazette, at least 50 people have been arrested in the city since the crackdown began Saturday morning.

At least five journalists, including a Myanmar Now multimedia reporter and the chief executive officer of the Monywa Gazette, were among several people arrested by the police during crackdowns in different cities.

The arrested journalists also include an AP photographer, a photographer from local photo news agency MPA, and a reporter from the Chin state capital Hakha.

The whereabouts of the arrested journalists remains unknown. 

It was unclear how many people had been rounded up by police on Saturday, but witnesses and journalists on the ground reported dozens of arrests at various locations throughout the day.

The violence came a day after Myanmar’s envoy to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, made an emotional appeal at the UN calling on the international community to use “all means necessary” to end the military takeover. 

Calling the military an “existential threat for Myanmar as a polity and civilized society,” he concluded his 12-minute speech by raising a three-finger salute in solidarity with the protesters.

In Yangon, police were out in force from early in the day to break up protesting crowds at key rallying points. Using stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas, they repeatedly forced protesters to flee into nearby residential areas.

As the police advanced, protesters scattered into side streets, sometimes running into apartment buildings or shopping centres.

The police announced from a vehicle on Bagayar road in Sanchaung township on Friday afternoon that they would use force to break up crowds of more than five people. Despite the heavy police presence, however, some continued to protest near the road.

Around the city, large crowds continued to gather to chant anti-military slogans and sing revolutionary songs. Some protesters stood their ground a few meters away from the police, defending themselves behind makeshift barricades.

As they chased fleeing protesters into residential neighbourhoods, riot police also intimidated and arrested bystanders.  

A photograph posted by news outlet The Irrawaddy showed a pregnant woman surrounded by police—one placing his fist on her throat—as they searched for fleeing protesters in a residential area.

Another photo shows a policeman pointing his gun at a medic cowering behind a table with her fellow emergency workers behind her.

In Mandalay, security forces blocked the area around the central railway station to stop protesters from gathering. No police or soldiers were seen near the clock tower or the Myanma Economic Bank where they were stationed over the past few days.

Meanwhile, elected MP Win Mya Mya, a National League for Democracy (NLD) executive committee member for Mandalay region, became the latest member of the party to be taken into custody following her arrest at around 9:30am on Saturday.

In the southern city of Dawei, the police also started cracking down on anti-coup protests on Saturday after weeks of demonstrations. Local news outlet Dawei Watch reported that the security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds and at least one person was arrested.

Most cities in Myanmar have been filled with protesters over the past three weeks after the army seized power from the elected government and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, president Win Myint, and other top officials.

NLD sources told Myanmar Now that Suu Kyi had been moved from her home in Naypyitaw, where she had been held under house arrest since February 1, to an undisclosed location this week.

Protesters in Myanmar are preparing for another general strike on Sunday, following one on Monday that marked an effort to increase pressure on the regime to restore civilian rule.