COUP SUPPORTERS BEAT PROTESTERS AT RALLY

YANGON Supporters of Myanmar's military, some armed with knives and clubs, others firing catapults and throwing stones, attacked opponents of the coup on Thursday.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army detained civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb. 1 after the military complained of fraud in a November election.

But before many coup opponents congregated, about 1,000 supporters of the military turned up for a rally in Yangon.

Several people were set upon and beaten by groups of men, some armed with knives, others firing catapults and hurling stones, witnesses said. At least two people were stabbed, video footage showed.

“Today's events show who the terrorists are. They're afraid of the people's action for democracy,” activist Thin Zar Shun Lei Yi told Reuters.

“We'll continue our peaceful protests against dictatorship.”

As dusk fell, riot police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered at an administrative office to protest the appointment of a local official by the junta, according to a witness and livestreamed video.

STRINGER / REUTERS A military supporter points a sharp object at pro-democracy protesters at a rally in Yangon, Myanmar, on Thursday.