Tanks target protesters of military coup
SECURITY forces in Myanmar opened fire on activists at a power plant yesterday and armoured vehicles rolled in to major cities as army rulers faced a ninth day of anti-coup protests.
Soldiers sent to power plants in the northern state of Kachin faced a standoff at one site with demonstrators, who thought the army planned to cut off electricity. Facebook footage showed bullets were fired, but it was not clear if they were rubber or live fire.
As evening fell, armoured vehicles appeared in Yangon, Myitkyina and Sittwe – giving the heaviest show of force since the coup on February 1.
And the US embassy in Myanmar urged American citizens to ‘shelter in place’ – warning there could be telecoms interruptions last night.
As well as protests by hundreds of thousands across Myanmar, the country’s military rulers faced a strike by government workers, part of a civil disobedience movement to protest the coup that deposed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured). She has been held, charged with importing walkie-talkies, since the coup, but her detention was due to end today.
The army has been carrying out nightly mass arrests and has now given itself sweeping powers to detain people and search private property.
But hundreds of railway workers joined demonstrations in Yangon yesterday, even as police went to their houses to order them back to work. Officers were forced to leave by angry crowds, broadcaster Myanmar Now reported. Meanwhile, a statement from the EU, US and Britain has warned the military rulers ‘the world is watching’. It said: ‘We call on security forces to refrain from violence against demonstrators, who are protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government.’