Myanmar || Again Dead And Injured In Protests

In numerous protests in Myanmar, many people were injured again and several people died. Soldiers are said to have opened fire against demonstrators.

In Myanmar, despite increasing repression, thousands of opponents of the military junta continued their protests in several cities. They demanded the release of the disempowered head of government Aung San Suu Kyi, the reinstatement of her civilian government and a return to democratic reforms. According to local media reports, several people were killed and injured.

In Yangon, security forces fired shots in the former capital of Yangon late on Friday evening and killed at least one person, a local resident reported. At least three other people were seriously injured. 

According to the news website Myanmar Now, two more people have been killed in Mogok. Soldiers are said to have opened fire.

In the second largest city of Mandalay, according to the Reuters news agency, several demonstrators were injured when a vehicle drove into the crowd for unknown reasons and the police used rubber bullets.

Small protests have also been reported from several other places, such as Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Hpa-an, Myawaddy, Labutta, Myeik and Yay Oo. In the southern coastal town of Dawei, people drove through the streets with posters of the deposed de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.

On February 1, the military overthrew the civilian government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, there have been regular nationwide, violent clashes. According to the prisoners' aid organization AAPP, more than 230 people have now been killed and more than 2,300 arrested, at least temporarily. The security forces are also proceeding more and more aggressively, using tear gas and rubber bullets, but also live ammunition against the demonstrators.

Because of the increasing violence, the demonstrators have adjusted their tactics: Sometimes they gather at night with candles and posters, take photos of the action and then leave. Or they stage "unmanned protests" in which they hang up rows of posters with messages like: "We will never stop as long as we don't get democracy".

"We protest when there are no police or the military. And if we hear them coming, we quickly disappear," said activist Kyaw Min Htike of the Reuters news agency. "I don't want to lose a single one of my comrades. But we will protest in every possible way until our revolution gains the upper hand."