The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Junta supporters attack protesters
Supporters of Myanmar’s junta have attacked protesters demanding the end to the military government that took power in a coup.
They used slingshots, iron rods and knives to injure demonstrators.
The violence complicates a stand-off between the military and a protest movement that has been staging large rallies daily to demand that Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government be restored to power.
She and other politicians were ousted and arrested on February 1 in a takeover that shocked the international community and reversed years of slow progress towards democracy.
Facebook, meanwhile, announced it would ban all accounts linked to the country’s military as well as ads from militarycontrolled companies – a reflection of international outrage over the takeover.
According to accounts and photos posted on social
media, hundreds of people marched yesterday in support of the coup.
Photos and videos showed groups attacking people in downtown Yangon as police stood by.
When the marchers were jeered by bystanders near the city’s central railway station, they responded by firing slingshots, throwing stones and then chasing down the bystanders.
One band that broke away stabbed and kicked a
man they had chased. Supporters of the military have gathered in the streets before but had not used violence so openly.
Critics of the military claim it pays people to engage in violence, allegations that are hard to verify.
They have been raised during earlier spells of unrest, including a failed anti-military uprising in 1988 and an ambush of Ms Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, when she was seeking to rally her supporters against the military regime.
Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi visited Bangkok on Wednesday and held talks with her Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai and Myanmar’s new foreign minister, retired colonel Wunna Maung Lwin.
The meeting was part of Ms Marsudi’s efforts to co-ordinate a regional response to the crisis.
“We asked all parties to exercise restraint and not use violence... to avoid casualties and bloodshed,” Ms Marsudi said later.
Several countries have levied or are considering new sanctions against the military junta.
Facebook announced it too was taking action.
It said in a statement that it considered the situation in Myanmar an “emergency”, explaining that the ban on accounts linked to the military was triggered by events since the coup, including “deadly violence”.