Protesters took to the streets of cities across Myanmar for a fifth consecutive day on Wednesday to oppose a military takeover that ousted the country’s democratically elected leader last week.
The protests took place in the shadow of the shooting of a protester and the use of water cannons by the security forces on Tuesday.
Footage shared on social media apparently showed a woman falling to the ground in front of a protest after she was shot. It is unclear what type of projectile caused her injuries, and her current condition is also unclear.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, refers to the shooting on Twitter, adding: “The world stands in solidarity with the protesters of Myanmar.”
The army arrested Democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 and continued to impose an Internet outage while restricting rallies and curfews.
About 190 people have been arrested in connection with the military takeover since February 1, according to the man in Myanmar right group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Richard Weirr, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “We have seen increasing restrictions on people’s ability to mobilize and to gather in the form of effective bans on gatherings for people in nearly 40 different areas across the country. “We also saw an increase in the use of force that took place yesterday.”
He called on foreign powers to impose sanctions on the leaders of the coup and demand that the democratically elected government be restored.
The coup took place after an almost decade-long movement towards greater openness and democracy after five decades of military rule.
The video posted on social media on Wednesday showed protesters flocking to streets and gathering in squares in Yangon. They sang slogans, waving red flags and wearing red bandanas on their heads.
A group of police in Loikaw, in the east of the country, joined protesters and marched in uniform with them.
In the capital, Naypyitaw, hundreds of government workers joined protests in support of a growing civil disobedience campaign, Reuters reported.
“We can not remain silent,” youth leader Esther Ze Naw told the news organization. “If blood is shed during our peaceful demonstrations, there will be more if we let them take over the country.”
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In the city of Mandalay, in the center of the country, protesters formed a parade of motorcycles to show their opposition to the military takeover.
The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned the violence against the protesters, and reiterated its call on the military to restore the democratically elected government.
“We do not make any events about where we stand when it comes to the military’s need to relinquish power,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a State Department briefing.
Price said the US tried to reach Suu Kyi after the coup, but the requests were denied.
The United Nations has also expressed concern about the use of force on protesters.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Matthew Mulligan and Caroline Radnofsky contributed.