YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s ruling junta has declared martial law in parts of the country’s largest city as security forces killed more protesters in an increasingly deadly crackdown on resistance to last month’s military coup.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent group that watched the toll of the violence was killed Sunday and dozens injured in one of the deadliest days of repression.
Most of the dead – 34 – were in Yangon, where two townships, Hlaing Thar Yar and the neighboring Shwepyitha, were placed under martial law.
Video of the congregation Hlaing Thar Yar showed people running away after gunfire was heard. Those who fled carried one injured person and tried to revive two, one who appears to be dead or dying, showed footage of Burma’s independent Democratic voice.
According to the aid group, Hlaing Thar Yar, 22 civilian deaths were reported on Sunday, saying more than a dozen civilians were injured and a large number of junata forces involved in the congregation were described.
Since the takeover six weeks ago, Myanmar has been under a nationwide state of emergency, with its civilian leaders expelled and detained, and military leaders in control of the entire government. But the announcement on state broadcaster MRTV late Sunday appears to be the first use of the term martial law since the coup and suggests more direct military control over security instead of local police.
According to the announcement, the State Administrative Council took action to improve security and restore law and order, saying that the regional commander in Yangon was entrusted with administrative, judicial and military powers in the area under his command.
According to the aid group and local media, four other deaths were reported in Bago, Mandalay, and the northern city of Hpakant in the state of Kachin.
In Yangon, a video posted on social media showed crowds of people, some with hard hats and gas masks, amid gunfire. The protesters quickly sprayed fumes from firefighters as they retreated – a tactic commonly used to suffocate tear gas and create a vapor barrier that makes it harder for police to chase or shoot protesters.
There were also reports of injuries from direct rounds and rubber bullets in other parts of Yangon, including Insein district, where waves of black smoke could be seen after security forces allegedly set fire to roadblocks.
In a new tactic, anti-coup protesters used the cloak of darkness to hold candlelight vigils on Saturday and Sunday evenings in a commercial area in Yangon, which was usually the scene of their daytime protests. Post-dark gatherings were also held in Mandalay and elsewhere.
The protest movement has been based on civil disobedience from the outset, with marches and general strikes being the main features. But some protesters have advocated stronger, more mobile methods of self-defense – such as holding small gatherings that can quickly disintegrate and reunite, and devising the cover of fire extinguishers and bubbling laundry.
On Saturday, the civic leader of the Myanmar government, which had been hiding, promised to support a ‘revolution’ to oust the military leaders who seized power during the February 1 coup. Mahn Win Khaing Than, who has been named acting vice president by deposed Myanmar lawmakers and is a member of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, addressed the public for the first time since the coup. .
“This is the darkest moment of the country and the moment that dawn is near,” he said in a video posted on the shadow government’s website and social media.
“To form a federal democracy, to which all ethnic brothers who have suffered for decades through the dictatorship through various kinds of oppression, this revolution is the chance for us to put our efforts together,” he said.
He added: ‘We will never give up an unjust army, but we will cut out our future with our united power. Our mission must be achieved. ”
At the end of the message, he flashes the three-finger salute that has become a symbol of resistance to the military rulers.
The count of Sunday’s victims of the aid program apparently added more than a hundred numbers to the number of civilians killed by security forces since the coup. Confirmation is almost impossible in the country due to the security situation and a suppression of independent media, but different groups have carefully compiled compilations with similar figures.
The actual death toll is likely to be higher, as police apparently seized some corpses, and some victims had serious gunshot wounds that would be difficult for medical staff at temporary clinics to treat. Many hospitals are occupied by security forces and are consequently boycotted by medical personnel and avoided by protesters.
Police also aggressively patrolled residential areas at night, firing into the air and launching stun grenades as an intimidation tactic. They also took people from their homes in purposeful raids with minimal resistance. In at least two known cases, the detainees died within hours of being dragged away.