Troops fired grenades at protesters on Friday in the city of Bago, near Yangon, witnesses and news reports said. At least ten people were killed and their bodies piled up in a pagoda, they said.
Myanmar Now News and Mawkun, an online news magazine, said at least 20 people were killed and many wounded. It was not possible to get an exact toll because they cordoned off the area near the pagoda.
According to an activist group, more than 600 people have been killed by security forces protesting the coup. The country came to a standstill due to the protests and widespread strikes against military rule.
“The reason for the reduction of protest actions is due to the cooperation of people who want peace, which we appreciate,” Zaw Min Tun said. “We urge people to work with security forces and help them.”
He said the army had recorded 248 deaths and denied using automatic weapons. Sixteen police officers were also killed, he said.
The activist group Assistance Association for Politic Prisoners said 614 people, including 48 children, had been killed by security forces since Thursday night. It is said that more than 2800 were in custody.
“We are humbled by their courage and dignity,” a group of 18 ambassadors in Myanmar said of the protesters in a joint statement.
“We stand together to support the hope and aspirations of all who believe in a free, just, peaceful and democratic Myanmar. Violence must stop, all political prisoners must be released and democracy must be restored.”
The declaration was signed by the ambassadors of the United States, Britain, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland and several other European countries.
“The proposals of neighboring countries and big countries and powerful people in politics, we respect them,” Zaw Min Tun said. He also accused members of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy of Arson and said the protest campaign was funded with foreign money, but gave no details.
Suu Kyi and many of her party colleagues have been in custody since the coup.
Zaw Min Tun said reports that some members of the international community did not recognize the military government were fake news. ‘
“We are working with foreign countries and working with neighboring countries,” the spokesman said.
Ousted lawmakers in Myanmar called on the United Nations Security Council on Friday to take action against the military.
“Our people are willing to pay any cost to regain their rights and freedoms,” said Zin Mar Aung, who has been appointed acting foreign minister for a group of legislators. She urged board members to apply direct and indirect pressure to the junta.
“Myanmar is on the brink of state failure, of state collapse,” Richard Horsey, Myanmar’s senior adviser to the International Crisis Group, told the informal UN meeting, the first public discussion of Myanmar by councilors .
The UN’s special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, wanted to visit the country but said she was repulsed by the generals.
She said on Friday that she had arrived in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand.
“I regret that Tatmadaw replied to me yesterday that they were not ready to receive me,” Schraner Burgener said on Twitter, referring to the army in Myanmar. “I am ready for dialogue. Violence never leads to peaceful, sustainable solutions.”