Several people have been killed or injured in protests against the military junta in Myanmar, according to local media and witness reports, as the security forces continue their violent crackdown on dissent.
Security forces fired shots and killed at least one person in the workers’ district of Hlaing Tharyar in the former capital Yangon late on Friday night, a local resident reported on Saturday.
At least three others were seriously injured, she said. “A childhood friend was hit in the arm,” the 25-year-old added. Local media reported other fatalities since Friday night.
According to the prisoners’ aid organisation AAPP, 235 people have already been killed and some 2,330 at least temporarily detained in the South-East Asian country since the military coup in February.
Despite the violence of the security forces and the detentions, thousands took to the streets again on Saturday. Participants are demanding, among other things, the release of ousted government leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“These are no longer soldiers or policemen … they are terrorists,” said one protester in Yangon.
The military had taken Suu Kyi into custody after the coup on February 1 and imposed a one-year state of emergency. The demonstrators are demanding a return to democratic reforms, the release of Suu Kyi, who has been placed under house arrest, and the reinstatement of her civilian government. The 75-year-old’s party had won the parliamentary election in November.