At least 38 protesters across Myanmar have been killed in the latest crackdown on the anti-coup movement, an advocacy group said, as the generals who seized power on February 1 declared martial law over two areas of Yangon where Chinese factories were set ablaze.
A police officer also died making Sunday the deadliest day since mass demonstrations against the coup began six weeks ago.
A total of 126 people have so far been killed in “violent and arbitrary crackdowns” since the coup, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said, warning that casualties were “drastically increasing”. The number of people arrested rose to more than 2,150 people by Saturday, it added.
On Sunday, plumes of smoke rose over the industrial Hlaing Thar Yar township in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, as two Chinese factories were set ablaze and security forces opened fire on protesters.
At least 22 civilians were killed and more than 20 wounded, including three in critical condition, according to AAPP.
China’s embassy in Myanmar said Chinese staff were injured and trapped when the factories were looted and set on fire by unidentified attackers.
Throughout the day, residents hiding in their homes reported hearing gunfire, while military trucks wereseen driving through Hlaing Thar Yar’s streets. The area is one of the city’s poorest areas and home to people who’ve travelled from other parts of Myanmar to find work.
A doctor told the AFP news agency that she had treated about 50 people with injuries. “I cannot talk much – injured people keep coming,” she said before hanging up.
‘Ongoing brutality’
Escalating violence was also reported elsewhere in Myanmar including the second city of Mandalay, where a woman was shot dead, and in Bago, where two people were killed.
Meanwhile, state television MRTV said a police officer had died of a chest wound after a confrontation with protesters in Bago. He is the second policeman reported dead in the protests…..read more
Source: Al Jazeera
