YANGON, March 11, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Six protesters were killed in Myanmar
on Thursday as the United Nations condemned the growing violence against
anti-coup demonstrations.
International pressure has been building steadily since the military
ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1,
triggering daily protests across the country.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested and the death toll has climbed
to more than 60 in the post-coup crackdown.
In central Myanmar’s Myaing township, six people were killed on Thursday
as security forces cracked down on a protest.
“Six men were shot dead while eight people were wounded – with one man in
critical condition,” a rescue worker told AFP.
A witness told AFP five of them were shot in the head.
The UN Security Council unanimously agreed on a statement Wednesday
condemning the Myanmar military’s use of violence against peaceful
protesters.
It was the second time in just over a month that the council’s 15 members,
including China — a traditional ally of Myanmar’s generals — made a rare
show of unity over the crisis.
“Now it’s time for de-escalation. It’s time for diplomacy. It’s time for
dialogue,” said Zhang Jun, China’s UN ambassador.
The United States also applied fresh pressure with sanctions against two
adult children of junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing.
And the Asian Development Bank announced it had temporarily suspended
funding for government projects in Myanmar “as the international community
assesses the evolving situation”.
In the Sanchaung township in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub, people had
another sleepless night as security forces raided apartments searching for
lost police weapons.
“They used sound bombs on every street,” said one resident.
“We are asking friends who are outside of their homes not to come back
here tonight because of the situation.”
Sanchaung has been a flashpoint of tensions all week.
On Monday night, security forces sealed off a block of streets, confining
around 200 anti-coup protesters before searching apartments.
– ‘Many enemies’ –
State-run newspaper the Mirror on Thursday carried an announcement that
the Arakan Army (AA) — which fights for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine
population in northern Rakhine state — was no longer considered a terrorist
organisation.
The AA has been locked in battle with the military for nearly two years in
a conflict that has left hundreds killed and forced some 200,000 civilians to
flee their homes.
Herve Lemahieu, a Myanmar expert from Australia’s Lowy Institute, said the
move was likely because the military — known as the Tatmadaw — wanted to
end the distraction of fighting the AA so it could focus on the protests.
“The Tatmadaw has many enemies, they don’t want to operate on too many
fronts at once and the most pressing front at this point in time is against
the ethnic Burman majority in the major urban centres,” he told AFP.
Another part of Yangon, North Okkalapa, was also reeling after 300 arrests
on Wednesday, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
monitoring group.
“One person was shot with live ammunition during the crackdown and is in a
critical condition,” the monitoring group said.
– ‘Battlefield weapons’ –
A United States Senate committee heard emotional testimony on Wednesday
from London-based Myanmar activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, the daughter of
veteran pro-democracy leader Mya Aye, who was arrested in the days after the
February 1 coup.
Her father was one of the leaders of the 88 Generation, a veteran pro-
democracy group that came of age during an uprising against junta rule in
1988.
Her first memory of her father was seeing him through the bars of a jail
cell.
“I am heartbroken and angry at the same time that so many children will
now have to go through what I went through, growing up without a parent, not
knowing if or when they will ever be freed,” she said.
“This has to stop.”
An Amnesty International report on Thursday accused the military of using
“battlefield weapons” on unarmed protesters and carrying out premeditated
killings orchestrated by their commanding officers.
The rights group catalogued the security forces’ use of firearms that are
“completely inappropriate for use in policing protests”, including light
machine guns, sniper rifles and semi-automatic rifles.
The military has defended its takeover citing voting irregularities in
November elections, won by Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy party.
BSS