Cops crack down on crowds defying protest ban

Date:

spot_imgspot_img

Yangon, Feb 9: Police cracked down on demonstrators opposing Myanmar’s military coup, firing warning shots and shooting water cannons to disperse crowds that took to the streets again Tuesday in defiance of rules making protests illegal.
Water cannons were used in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, where witnesses said at least two warning shots were fired to try to break up the crowd. Reports on social media said police arrested more than two dozen people there. Police also used water cannons in the capital, Natpyitaw, for a second day and fired shots into the air.
Police were reported to have also shot rubber bullets at the crowd in Naypyitaw, wounding several people. Photos on social media showed an alleged shooter — an officer with a short-barreled gun — and several injured people.
Unconfirmed social media reports circulated of shootings with live rounds and deaths among the protesters, with the potential of sparking violent retaliation against the authorities, an outcome proponents of the country’s civil disobedience movement have warned against. The AP was unable to immediately confirm the reports.
The protesters are demanding that power be restored to the deposed civilian government and are seeking freedom for the nation’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other ruling party members detained since the military took over and blocked the new session of Parliament from convening on February 1.
The growing defiance is striking in a country where past demonstrations have been met with deadly force and are a reminder of previous movements in the Southeast Asian country’s long and bloody struggle for democracy. The military used deadly force to quash a massive 1988 uprising against military dictatorship and a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks. (AP)

spot_imgspot_img

Related articles

Mourinho touted as next Benfica coach

Lisbon, Sep 17: Benfica fired coach Bruno Lage after the team’s home loss to Qarabag in the Champions...

Nunez and Hernandez score for Al-Hilal in Asian Champions League

Riyadh, Sep 17: New signings Darwin Nunez and Theo Hernandez scored in Al-Hilal’s 2-1 victory over Al-Duhail of...

Man gets court date over racial abuse

Leeds, Sep 17: A man has been summoned to appear in court next month after an incident last...

Neeraj qualifies for finals, sets up clash vs Nadeem

World Athletics C’ships Tokyo, Sep 17: Defending champion Neeraj Chopra will face Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem...