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YANGON, February 15: Myanmar’s junta cut off the nation’s internet and deployed additional troops across the country on Monday as it intensified its crackdown on protests against the coup, but defiant protesters took to the streets again.
The military has steadily stepped up its efforts to quell an uprising against its seizure of power two weeks ago, in which civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained along with hundreds, including members of her democratically elected government.
As the protesters refused to back down, the generals imposed an hour-long internet shutdown on Monday morning and increased the military’s presence across the country.
Additional troops were seen at key locations in Yangon, the country’s commercial center and largest city, including armored personnel carriers near the central bank.
Live video broadcasts on social media platforms before the blackout showed more military vehicles and soldiers moving around other parts of the country.
However, fresh protests broke out again in Yangon on Monday morning, including near the central bank.
Hundreds of engineering and technology students protested in a northern district of the city, according to an AFP journalist.
There was also a new demonstration in the southern city of Dawei, a verified live broadcast on Facebook showed, with hundreds of protesters accompanied by a marching band.
Some carried banners against the military that said: “They kill in (the) day. They steal at night. They lie on television. “
Monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a “state-ordered information blackout” had taken Myanmar almost completely offline, but services began to resume around the start of the working day.
“The network data shows that national connectivity increases to normal levels after a data blackout,” reported NetBlocks, adding that the blackout lasted about eight hours.
But the monitor noted that most users in Myanmar were still prohibited from accessing social media.
War declaration
Increasing fears that the military would impose a much harsher crackdown, troops in the northern city of Myitkyina fired tear gas and then fired into a crowd Sunday night.
A journalist at the scene said it was unclear whether the police had used rubber bullets or actual rounds.
Local media outlets said that at least five journalists monitoring the protest were detained and published photos of some people injured in the incident.
A joint statement by the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain and the European Union urged the security forces not to harm civilians.
“We call on the security forces to refrain from violence against protesters, who are protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government,” they said.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, echoed that call. Through his spokesman, he also asked the military to “urgently” allow Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener to visit Myanmar “to assess the situation first-hand.”
The US embassy advised US citizens to shelter in place and not risk defying the regime’s night curfew.
UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said the junta’s efforts to curb the burgeoning protest movement were a sign of “desperation” and amounted to a declaration of war against his people.
“Attention general: YOU WILL BE responsible,” he wrote on Twitter.
Much of the country has been in an uproar since soldiers detained Aung San Suu Kyi and her top political allies on February 1, ending a fledgling democracy a decade after generations of junta rule.
The Nobel laureate spent years under house arrest during a previous dictatorship and has not been seen in public since she was arrested.
His detention period was expected to expire on Monday. However, her lawyer could not be reached and the generals have given no indication that she will be released.
An internet blackout last weekend failed to quell the resistance that has seen huge crowds fill in from large urban centers and isolated border villages alike.
The striking workers who spearheaded the campaign are among at least 400 people detained since the coup, said the monitoring group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
‘We don’t trust anyone’
Fear of arrest did not stop large crowds from returning to the streets across the country for the ninth consecutive day of street protests Sunday.
In Dawei, seven police officers broke ranks to join anti-coup protesters, mirroring local media reports of isolated desertions from the force in recent days.
Some parts of the country have formed neighborhood watch brigades in recent days to prevent the arrest of residents who join the civil disobedience movement.
“We don’t trust anyone at this time, especially those in uniforms,” said Myo Ko Ko, a member of a street patrol in Yangon.
The country’s new military leadership has so far not been shaken by a torrent of international condemnation.
The junta insists that he took power legally and has instructed the country’s journalists not to refer to him as a government that took power through a coup. – AFP
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