Two more journalists detained by Myanmar junta

YANGON, Myanmar — Two more journalists were detained in Myanmar on Friday, part of the junta’s intensifying efforts to choke off information about resistance to last month’s coup.

Mizzima News reported that one of its former reporters, Than Htike Aung, and Aung Thura, a journalist from the BBC’S Burmese-language service, were detained by men who appeared to be plainclothes security agents outside a court in the capital of Naypyitaw. The journalists were there to cover legal proceedings against Win Htein, a detained senior official from the party that ran the country before the takeover.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. In the face of persistent strikes and protests against the takeover, the junta has responded with an increasingly violent crackdown and efforts to severely limit the information reaching the outside world. Security forces have fired on crowds, killing hundreds; internet access has been severely restricted; private newspapers have been barred from publishing; and protesters, journalists and politicians have been arrested in large numbers.

About 40 journalists have been arrested, with roughly half still in detention, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press.

The reporters were taken into custody a day after Kyi Toe, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy, was arrested, according to a Facebook post by Phyo Zeya Thaw, a party official.