San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MYANMAR PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT, FATAL
Two dead, dozens more wounded as police open fire on demonstrators
Security forces in Myanmar opened fire on protesters in the city of Mandalay on Saturday, killing two people and wounding dozens, according to witnesses.
The shootings occurred as authorities were trying to force workers back to their jobs at a local shipyard. They were among hundreds of thousands of workers across Myanmar who have walked off their jobs to protest the military’s Feb. 1 coup and its ouster of elected civilian leaders.
More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the shipyard to block police, leading to a tense standoff that lasted much of Saturday afternoon. Authorities used water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, slingshots and ultimately live ammunition to break up the crowd, witnesses said.
At least 40 people were wounded, according to volunteer medics at the scene.
The Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, which has ruled the country for much of the past 60 years, staged a predawn coup Feb. 1, forcing out elected leaders and placing the head of the civilian government, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest.
The military also detained many leaders of her party, the National League for Democracy. More than 500 political figures and critics of the military are now being held, many without charges.
The coup immediately prompted protests throughout the country and spurred a growing civil disobedience movement with widespread labor walkouts. Among the key targets of the work stoppages are entities that help the military collect revenue, including tax offices, the government electricity ministry and private banks.
Saturday was the bloodiest day of protests so far. The clash began when police tried to force several workers to sail a ship from Mandalay to the city of Bhamo.
The men refused, and a crowd of supporters gathered in the neighborhood of dirt roads and food stalls near the small Yatanarpon shipyard. Men rolled barrels into the street to build a barricade to hold back police.
Videos showed police chasing protesters, striking some with their batons and arresting those they could catch. Some police officers used slingshots to shoot rocks and other projectiles at the protesters.
They also scattered spiky clusters of screws on the street to cut the feet of sandal-wearing protesters as they ran.
As the afternoon wore on, police became more aggressive and began firing live bullets. A volunteer with a local medical charity, Ko Kyaw Lin, said he had been helping rescue wounded protesters but could not get close enough to some of them because security forces were shooting at people in the crowd.