YANGON: At least 18 anti-coup protesters were killed on Sunday (Mar 14) in one of the deadliest days since Myanmar was thrust back under military rule.
In Yangon's massive Hlaing Tharyar township, police and soldiers faced off against protesters wielding sticks and knives as they hid behind makeshift barricades, fleeing after the security forces opened fire.
Protesters - using cut-out trash cans as shields - managed to retrieve the injured, but a doctor said not all could be reached.
Anti-coup protesters squat with shields behind black smoke from burning debris on the road in Hlaing Thar Yartownship in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, Mar 14, 2021.
"I can confirm 15 have died," the doctor told AFP, adding that she had treated about 50 people with injuries and expects the death toll to climb.
"I cannot talk much - injured people keep coming," she said before hanging up.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group - which verifies arrests and fatalities since the coup - confirmed a higher death toll.
Myanmar state television MRTV said late on Sunday that martial law has been imposed in Hlaing Tharyar district.
Throughout the day, gunshots were heard continuously by residents hiding in their homes as smoke rose above the streets, while military trucks were sighted driving through Hlaing Tharyar's streets.
State-run media on Sunday evening did not elaborate on the violence, but said five factories in the garment-producing township had been razed.
Among the burned buildings were Chinese-owned factories, said China's embassy in Myanmar, condemning the actions of the "destroyers" in a statement posted on their official Facebook.
"The Chinese embassy ... quickly urged local police to guarantee the security of Chinese businesses and personnel with effective management," it said.
"China urges Myanmar to tackle an effective plan by stopping all violence."
Anti-coup protesters surround an injured man in Hlaing Thar Yartownship in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 14, 2021. A number of people were shot dead during protests in Myanmar's largest city on Sunday, as security forces continued their violent crackdown against dissent following last month's military coup. (AP Photo)
The evening news also confirmed another death in Tamwe township, saying that hundreds of protesters attempted to torch a police station, which caused authorities to open fire to disperse them.
Similar scenes of chaos unfolded throughout the day in other parts of Myanmar - with one shot dead in the northern Hpakant city and another woman killed from a headshot in Mandalay.
Despite the daily bloodshed, those in the anti-coup movement remain defiant, and have hardened in recent weeks.
"I've seen the fallen heroes give their lives," said 21-year-old Ma Khine Lay, admitting she was afraid even as she rebuilt barricades out of bricks and bamboo poles in a Yangon township.
"I will fight until the end."
Hundreds of thousands have continued to protest near-daily across Myanmar, despite crackdowns by the police AFP/STR
Mahn Win Khaing Than, the acting leader of Myanmar's parallel civilian government, addressed the public via Facebook on Saturday, saying: "This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close."
He is on the run along with most senior officials from the ruling National League for Democracy Party. He said the civilian government would "attempt to legislate the required laws so that the people have the right to defend themselves" against the military crackdown.
YANGON: At least 18 anti-coup protesters were killed on Sunday (Mar 14) in one of the deadliest days since Myanmar was thrust back under military rule.
In Yangon's massive Hlaing Tharyar township, police and soldiers faced off against protesters wielding sticks and knives as they hid behind makeshift barricades, fleeing after the security forces opened fire.
Protesters - using cut-out trash cans as shields - managed to retrieve the injured, but a doctor said not all could be reached.
Anti-coup protesters squat with shields behind black smoke from burning debris on the road in Hlaing Thar Yartownship in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, Mar 14, 2021.
"I can confirm 15 have died," the doctor told AFP, adding that she had treated about 50 people with injuries and expects the death toll to climb.
"I cannot talk much - injured people keep coming," she said before hanging up.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group - which verifies arrests and fatalities since the coup - confirmed a higher death toll.
Myanmar state television MRTV said late on Sunday that martial law has been imposed in Hlaing Tharyar district.
Throughout the day, gunshots were heard continuously by residents hiding in their homes as smoke rose above the streets, while military trucks were sighted driving through Hlaing Tharyar's streets.
State-run media on Sunday evening did not elaborate on the violence, but said five factories in the garment-producing township had been razed.
Among the burned buildings were Chinese-owned factories, said China's embassy in Myanmar, condemning the actions of the "destroyers" in a statement posted on their official Facebook.
"The Chinese embassy ... quickly urged local police to guarantee the security of Chinese businesses and personnel with effective management," it said.
"China urges Myanmar to tackle an effective plan by stopping all violence."
Anti-coup protesters surround an injured man in Hlaing Thar Yartownship in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 14, 2021. A number of people were shot dead during protests in Myanmar's largest city on Sunday, as security forces continued their violent crackdown against dissent following last month's military coup. (AP Photo)
The evening news also confirmed another death in Tamwe township, saying that hundreds of protesters attempted to torch a police station, which caused authorities to open fire to disperse them.
Similar scenes of chaos unfolded throughout the day in other parts of Myanmar - with one shot dead in the northern Hpakant city and another woman killed from a headshot in Mandalay.
Despite the daily bloodshed, those in the anti-coup movement remain defiant, and have hardened in recent weeks.
"I've seen the fallen heroes give their lives," said 21-year-old Ma Khine Lay, admitting she was afraid even as she rebuilt barricades out of bricks and bamboo poles in a Yangon township.
"I will fight until the end."
Hundreds of thousands have continued to protest near-daily across Myanmar, despite crackdowns by the police AFP/STR
Mahn Win Khaing Than, the acting leader of Myanmar's parallel civilian government, addressed the public via Facebook on Saturday, saying: "This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close."
He is on the run along with most senior officials from the ruling National League for Democracy Party. He said the civilian government would "attempt to legislate the required laws so that the people have the right to defend themselves" against the military crackdown.
YANGON: Myanmar security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters in the commercial capital Yangon on Sunday (Mar 14), leaving at least three people dead, witnesses and domestic media said.
Video taken at the site showed protesters holding handmade shields and wearing helmets as they confronted security forces in the Hlaing Tharyar district of the city. Plumes of black smoke rose over the area.
Chinese state-owned broadcaster CGTN said two Chinese-funded clothes factories in the district were set ablaze by people who arrived on motorcycles, armed with iron rods, axes and gasoline.
Anti-coup protesters squat with shields behind black smoke from burning debris on the road in Hlaing Thar Yartownship in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, Mar 14, 2021.
A doctor at a private hospital treating the injured confirmed the use of both live rounds and rubber bullets.
Another doctor on the ground told AFP at least three had died - corroborating local media outlet The Irrawaddy - but said the death toll is expected to climb.
"Three died in front of me while I was giving treatment. I'm sending another two to hospital. That's all I can say at this moment," she told AFP, in between giving orders to her aides to inject medicine.
"I cannot talk much - the injured people keep coming," she said before hanging up.
Throughout the day, gunshots were heard continuously by residents hiding in their homes, while military trucks were sighted driving through Hlaing Tharyar's streets.
Two more people were killed elsewhere in the country a day after the acting leader of the parallel civilian government said it will seek to give people the legal right to defend themselves.
A young man was shot and killed in the town of Bago, near Yangon, witnesses and domestic media said.
The Kachin Wave media outlet said another protester was killed in the town of Hpakant, in the jade mining area in the northeast. "Kyaw Lin Hteik died when he arrived at the hospital ... he had a gunshot on the right side of his chest and he lost too much blood," said a local doctor who declined to be named.
He added that another three people were hit by rubber bullets and had to be transferred to state capital Myitkyina, where hospitals are better equipped.
Anti-coup protesters surround an injured man in Hlaing Thar Yartownship in Yangon, Myanmar Sunday, March 14, 2021. A number of people were shot dead during protests in Myanmar's largest city on Sunday, as security forces continued their violent crackdown against dissent following last month's military coup. (AP Photo)
Despite the growing death toll, protesters continued to take to the streets Sunday - from civil servants hoisting Aung San Suu Kyi's poster defiantly at a march through the central city of Monywa to a sit-in in commercial hub Yangon.
"May the fallen heroes who have given their lives in this spring revolution rest in peace!" chanted protesters wearing hard hats in Yangon's Thaketa township.
Hundreds of thousands have continued to protest near-daily across Myanmar, despite crackdowns by the police AFP/STR
More than 80 people had been killed as of Saturday in widespread protests against the military's seizure of power last month, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group said. Over 2,100 people have been arrested, it said.
Mahn Win Khaing Than, the acting leader of Myanmar's parallel civilian government, addressed the public via Facebook on Saturday, saying: "This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close."
He is on the run along with most senior officials from the ruling National League for Democracy Party. He said the civilian government would "attempt to legislate the required laws so that the people have the right to defend themselves" against the military crackdown.
The Monywa township declared it had formed its own local government and police force.
In Yangon, hundreds of people demonstrated in different parts of the city after putting up barricades of barbed wire and sandbags to block the advance of security forces.
In one area, people staged a sit-in protest under sheets of tarpaulin rigged up to protect them from the harsh midday sun. "We need justice," they chanted.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer phone calls from Reuters seeking comment. Junta-run media MRTV's evening news broadcast on Saturday labelled the protesters "criminals" but did not elaborate.
