(Reuters) – Myanmar security forces opened fire on pro-democracy rallies on Saturday, killing at least five people, a protester and media said as the army intensified its efforts to quell opposition to arrest warrants for a further 20 high-profile critics .
Despite the deaths of more than 550 people by the security forces since the February 1 coup, protesters come out every day, often in small groups in small towns, to oppose the overthrow of an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. and the return of military rule.
Security forces in the central city of Monywa, which has been protesting daily for weeks, fired at a crowd that killed at least four people and wounded several, two media organizations said.
“They started firing incessantly with both stun grenades and live ammunition,” the protester in Monywa, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters via a messaging app.
‘People went backwards and quickly put up barriers, but a bullet hit a person in front of me in my head. He was killed on impact. ”
One man has been shot dead in the southern city of Thaton, the online news portal Bago Weekly Journal reported. Police also opened fire Bago in the city center and one man wounded.
Demonstrations were also held in the second city, Myanmar, Mandalay and the northern city of Hpakant.
Police and a junta spokesman did not respond to phone calls to comment.
The military said the killings had sparked violence. It says it hosted the coup because a November election that won Suu Kyi’s party was hampered. The Electoral Commission rejected the allegation.
The activist group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said earlier on Saturday that security forces had killed 550 people, including 46 children, since the coup.
“People are still protesting every day because we strongly believe it is a battle between good and evil,” protest leader Tayzar San told Reuters in an audio message.
State media has announced that authorities have issued warrants for another 20 celebrities – including influencers, singers and models on social media – under a law against inciting disagreements in the military, and the number of warrants issued in the past day for high-democracy fighters was issued to 38.
The charge could carry a prison sentence of three years.
DAMPING OF VOICES?
One of the wanted, actress Paing Phyoe Thu, who attended rallies in the capital Yangon in the weeks following the coup, said she would not be cowed.
‘Whether a warrant has been issued or not, as long as I live, I will oppose the military dictatorship that bullies and kills people. The revolution must prevail, “she said on Facebook. Her place was not immediately known.
Military teams were also looking for protest leaders and several “unscrupulous” people with homemade weapons were arrested, state media said.
The military is also campaigning to control the flow of information, urging ISPs to cut wireless broadband from Friday, depriving most customers of access, although some messages and photos are still being posted and shared.
The United States and other Western countries have denounced the coup and called for the release of Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign against military rule. She is charged with the offense of an official secret act punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The United States also condemned the Internet shutdown.
“We hope it will not silence the voices of the people,” said State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter.
The coup has rekindled old wars with autonomy-seeking ethnic minority forces in the north and east.
Myanmar’s oldest rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), has seen the first military airstrikes on its forces in more than twenty years, after announcing its support for the pro-democracy movement.
The KNU, which signed a ceasefire with the government in 2012, said more than 12,000 villagers had fled their homes due to the airstrikes. It calls for an international ban on arms sales to the military.
Media reported that about 20 people had been killed in airstrikes in the KNU area in recent days, including nearly a dozen at a gold mine run by the group.
Fighting also flared up in the north between the army and ethnic Kachin insurgents. The unrest sent thousands of refugees fleeing to Thailand and India.
Reporting by Reuters staff; Written by Robert Birsel; Edited by Edwina Gibbs, William Mallard and Ros Russell