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YANGON: Myanmar’s state television reported on Tuesday (February 9) injuries to police during attempts to disperse protesters who it said were acting aggressively, in their first recognition of the demonstrations taking place in the country.
MRTV on its nightly news said that a police truck had been destroyed at a demonstration in Mandalay, showing footage of the aftermath, including injured police officers who it said had acted within the law.
He described the protests as orchestrated by people who wanted to damage the nation’s stability, but did not mention last week’s coup or other demonstrations that took place across the country.
READ: Myanmar police fire into the air to disperse the protest, four injured by rubber bullets
Protesters have taken to the streets in cities and towns in the largest demonstrations in Myanmar for more than a decade against a February 1 military coup that toppled the elected government of veteran democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Tuesday, police fired guns, mostly into the air, and used water cannons and rubber bullets to try to clear protesters in the capital, Naypyidaw, and four people were taken to hospital with what doctors initially said they believed. which were wounds caused by rubber bullets.
One of them, a woman, had what was likely a fatal head injury, said a doctor who did not want to be identified. The bullet could be seen lodged in her on an X-ray, the doctor said.
One man had a chest wound but was not in critical condition. It was unclear whether he was hit by a bullet or a rubber bullet, the doctor said.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the 2015 elections, but the transition to democracy was halted with the February 1 coup that toppled his government as he prepared to start his second term after his National League for Democracy (NLD) swept on November 8. choice.
The army cited electoral fraud as a justification for its inauguration. The electoral commission dismissed the accusations of fraud.
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The promises of Monday by the leader of the junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, to eventually hold new elections in his first speech since taking power were the object of contempt. He reiterated unsubstantiated accusations of election fraud.
Min Aung Hlaing said the junta would form a “true and disciplined democracy”, different from previous eras of military rule, which brought years of isolation and poverty.
He did not give a time frame, but the board has said the state of emergency would last for a year.
READ: Imposing sanctions on Myanmar’s military will work because it has worked in the past: UN expert
State media pointed to possible action against the protests on Monday when they said the public wanted to get rid of the “wrongdoers.”
Orders were imposed in Yangon and Mandalay prohibiting gatherings of more than four people and a curfew from 8 pm to 4 am.
