YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s governing board has declared martial law in parts of the country’s largest city, as security forces have killed several protesters in an increasingly lethal crackdown on resistance to the military coup. last month.
At least 38 people were killed on Sunday and dozens injured in one of the deadliest days of repression, according to the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners, an independent group that monitors the number of violence.
Most of those killed – 34 – were in Yangon, where two localities, neighboring Hlaing Thar Yar and neighboring Shwepyitha, were under martial law.
The film from Hlaing Thar Yar commune showed people fleeing after gunfire was heard. Those who fled carried an injured person and tried to resurrect two others, one who appeared to be dead or dying, filming from the Independent Voice of Burma showed.
Hlaing Thar Yar was the scene of 22 civilian deaths on Sunday, according to the aid group, which said more than a dozen civilians were injured and described a large number of junta forces working in the locality.
Since taking over six weeks ago, Myanmar has been in a state of emergency at the national level, with its civilian leaders being deposed and detained, and military leaders responsible for all governments. The announcement by state-owned broadcaster MRTV late Sunday appeared to be the first use of the term martial law since the coup and suggested more direct military security checks instead of local police.
The announcement said the state administrative council had acted to increase security and restore law and order and said the Yangon regional commander had been entrusted with the administrative, judicial and military powers in the area under his command.
Four other deaths were reported in Bago, Mandalay and the northern city of Hpakant, according to the aid group and local media.
In Yangon, videos posted on social media showed a crowd of people, some wearing hats and gas masks, running down a street amid the sounds of gunfire. Protesters quickly sprayed steam from fire extinguishers as they retreated – a tactic widely used to stifle tear gas and create a vapor screen that makes it difficult for police to track down or shoot protesters.
There were also reports of injuries caused by live rounds and rubber bullets in other parts of Yangon, including Insein District, where waves of black smoke can be seen after security forces set fire to roadblocks.
In a new tactic, anti-coup protesters used covering the darkness to hold mass candlelight vigils on Saturday and Sunday evenings in a commercial area of Yangon, which was usually the scene of their daily protests. Rallies after dark took place in Mandalay and elsewhere.
The protest movement was based on non-violent civil disobedience from the beginning, with marches and general strikes among its main features. But some protesters advocated stronger and more agile methods of self-defense – such as organizing small rallies that quickly disband and reunite and designed cover for fire extinguishers and laundry.
On Saturday, the civilian leader of the hidden Myanmar government vowed to continue supporting a “revolution” to eliminate military leaders who took power in the February 1 coup. Mahn Win Khaing Than, who has been named acting vice president by Myanmar’s ousted lawmakers and is a member of the political party ousted by leader Aung San Suu Kyi, addressed the public for the first time since the coup.
“This is the darkest moment of the nation and the time when dawn is near,” he said in a video posted on the shadow government’s website and social media.
“In order to form a federal democracy, which all ethnic brethren who have suffered with various kinds of oppression during the decades of dictatorship have truly wanted, this revolution is the chance for us to unite our efforts,” he said. he said.
He added: “We will never give up an unjust army, but we will shape our future with our united power. Our mission must be accomplished. ”
At the end of the message, he threw the three-fingered salute that became a symbol of resistance to military leaders.
The number of victims of the aid group on Sunday seems to increase by more than 100 the number of civilians killed by the security forces since the coup. Confirmation is almost impossible in the country due to the security situation and the repression of the independent media, but different groups have carefully compiled accounts with similar figures.
The actual death toll is likely to be higher, as police have confiscated some bodies, and some victims have suffered serious gunshot wounds that medical staff at makeshift clinics would find difficult to treat. Many hospitals are occupied by security forces and, as a result, are boycotted by medical staff and avoided by protesters.
Police aggressively patrolled residential neighborhoods at night, firing into the air and firing stun grenades as an intimidation tactic. They also took people from their homes in targeted raids with minimal resistance. In at least two known cases, detainees died in custody hours after they were transported.