Police slaughter 38 in brutal crackdown
YANGON: At least 38 people have died in the bloodiest day of the Myanmar crisis, as the military junta continues to defy growing international condemnation of its coup with a sickeningly violent crackdown on protesters.
The US said it was “appalled and revulsed” by the latest use of deadly force by police and troops, who have shot and killed more than 50 people in recent weeks.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since February 1 when the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ending the nation’s decade-long experiment with democracy and sparking daily mass protests.
In response, Western nations
including the US and Britain have hit the generals with repeated sanctions.
But the junta has so far ignored the global condemnation, responding to the uprising by ramping up its use of lethal violence.
“Only today, 38 people died,” UN envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener said on Wednesday.
“Today was the bloodiest day since the coup happened,” she noted, without providing any further details.
She called for the UN to take “very strong measures” against the generals, adding that in her conversations with them they had dismissed the threat of sanctions.
US State Department
spokesman Ned Price said: “We call on all countries to speak with one voice to condemn the brutal violence by the Burmese military against its own people.”
He said the US, which has already imposed sanctions on the junta leaders, was looking at further actions.
Earlier, media reports recorded at least 17 deaths across Myanmar, with Monywa in the central Sagaing region registering at least seven, according to a doctor.
Medics also said they saw two other individuals being dragged away by security forces but could not confirm if they had died.
On the outskirts of the commercial hub of Yangon, at
least six demonstrators died, according to a rescue worker and local journalist, as protesters blocked major roads.
The demonstrators pasted printouts of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s face on the ground to slow down security forces, who will avoid standing on the portraits.
In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, two demonstrators were killed, a doctor confirmed, adding that one of the victims aged 19 was shot in the head.
Another 19-year-old protester died after being shot in Salin. “They shouldn’t have used such lethal force against the peaceful protesters,” said his friend Min Pyae Phyo, through tears.
“I won’t forget and forgive them the rest of my life.”
And a demonstration in Myingyan turned deadly when security forces fired against protesters carrying homemade shields emblazoned with the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance.
Several medics confirmed one young man was gunned down in cold blood.
Local media in northern Kachin state also reported similar scenes of violence.
Monitoring groups estimate more than 1200 people have been arrested since the coup, with about 900 still behind bars or facing charges. But the real number is likely far higher, with reports of 1300 arrests on Sunday alone.