[ad_1]
At least 39 people have died in one of the deadliest days since Myanmar was repelled by the military government, as a group of ousted MPs urged citizens to defend themselves during the nation’s “darkest moment”.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military forced civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi out of power in a coup on February 1, sparking a mass uprising that has led to hundreds of thousands of people. protest daily for the return to democracy.
The junta has repeatedly justified its takeover by alleging widespread electoral fraud in the November elections, which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won by an overwhelming majority.
More than 80 people have been killed in the military offensive against protesters, but the number is expected to increase dramatically after Sunday’s violence, making it one of the deadliest days yet as Myanmar enters its seventh week under the board regime.
In Yangon’s huge Hlaing Tharyar Township, police and soldiers clashed with stick and knife-wielding protesters as they hid behind makeshift barricades and fled after security forces opened fire. Security forces killed at least 22 anti-coup protesters in the poor industrial district, an advocacy group said.
The Association for the Assistance to Political Prisoners added that 16 other protesters had died elsewhere, as well as a police officer.
The Chinese embassy said many Chinese staff members were injured and caught in arson attacks carried out by unidentified assailants at garment factories in Hlaing Tharyar and called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens.
Throughout the day, residents hiding in their homes heard gunshots as smoke rose over the streets, while military trucks were seen passing through the municipality.
A police officer posted a TikTok video hours before the crackdown, saying with a voiceover that they would be bringing heavy weapons. “I will have no mercy on Hlaing Tharyar and they too will fight seriously because there are all kinds of characters there,” said the officer under the account @ aungthuraphyo40.
The video, which was viewed and verified by AFP factcheckers, was removed hours later.
State media on Sunday night gave no further details on the violence, but said five factories in the clothing production municipality had been razed. Among the burned buildings were Chinese-owned factories, the embassy in Myanmar said, condemning the actions of the “destroyers” in a statement posted on its official Facebook.
The evening news also confirmed another death in Tamwe Township, saying that hundreds of protesters attempted to set fire to a police station, prompting authorities to open fire to disperse them.
Similar scenes of chaos unfolded throughout the day in other parts of Myanmar, with one person shot dead in the northern city of Hpakant and a woman killed after being shot in the head in Mandalay.
Despite daily bloodshed, members of the anti-coup movement remain defiant and have hardened their opposition in recent weeks.
“I’ve seen fallen heroes give their lives,” said Ma Khine Lay, 21, admitting she was scared even as she rebuilt brick and bamboo barricades in a Yangon township.
“I will fight until the end”.
The violence came a day after the acting vice chairman of the Representative Committee of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a shadow parliament made up of elected parliamentarians, called for people to continue protesting the “unjust dictatorship” of the military.
“This is the darkest time in the nation and the pre-dawn light is near,” Mahn Win Khaing Than said in a recorded video posted on CRPH’s Facebook page Saturday night.
A high-ranking NLD politician who served as Speaker of the House during Suu Kyi’s previous administration was placed under house arrest during the February 1 coup, according to the monitoring group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
The board, self-proclaimed as the state’s board of trustees, has said that the formation of the CRPH is akin to “high treason,” which carries a maximum sentence of 22 years in jail.
