YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Security forces in central Myanmar opened fire on anti-coup protesters on Saturday, killing at least two people, according to local media. A human rights group has said increasing violence since the February 1 military takeover has killed at least 550 civilians.
Of those, 46 were children, according to the Myanmar Political Detainee Assistance Association. About 2,751 people have been detained or convicted, the group said.
Threats of deadly violence and arrests of protesters have failed to suppress the daily demonstrations in Myanmar, demanding that the military resign and restore the democratically elected government. The coup reversed years of slow progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian country.
The Myanmar Now news service reported that government forces fired on protesters in the city of Monywa, killing at least two people. A video posted on social media showed a group of protesters carrying a young man with what appeared to be a serious head injury, while gunfire was heard. His condition was not immediately known.
At least seven people were injured in the shooting, two of them seriously injured and taken into custody by soldiers, Myanmar Now said, citing a member of a local rescue team.
Late police in custody took five people into custody late Friday after talking to a CNN reporter in a market in Yangon, the country’s largest city, local media reported, citing witnesses. The arrests took place in three separate incidents.
Two women were reportedly calling for help while under arrest, Myanmar Now reported. A police officer, who was carrying a weapon, asked if “anyone dared to help them,” a witness told the news service.
“They aimed their guns at everyone – passers-by and shopkeepers,” said a witness about two police officers who forcibly took two other women from the market.
Meanwhile, the Karen National Union, a rebel ethnic minority group that has been fighting the government for decades, has condemned “non-stop bombings and airstrikes” against villages and “unarmed civilians” in their homeland along the border with Thailand. .
“The attacks killed many people, including children and students, and destroyed schools, residential homes and villages. These terrorist acts are clearly a flagrant violation of local and international law, “the group said in a statement.
In Karen-controlled areas, more than a dozen civilians have been killed and more than 20,000 displaced since March 27, according to Free Burma Rangers, an aid agency operating in the region.
About 3,000 Karen fled to Thailand, but many returned in unclear circumstances. Thai authorities say they have returned voluntarily, but aid groups say they are not safe and many are hiding in the jungle and caves on the Myanmar side of the border.
More than a dozen minority groups have sought greater autonomy from the central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle. Some of the major groups – including Kachin, Karen and the Rakhine Arakan army – denounced the coup and said they would defend the protesters in their territories.
After weeks of overnight disruptions to internet access, Myanmar’s army closed all connections on Friday except those using fiber optic cable, which was working at drastically reduced speeds. Access to mobile networks and all wireless networks – the least expensive options used by most people in the developing country – was blocked on Saturday.
Myanmar has been missing for five decades under strict military control, leading to isolation and international sanctions. As the generals weakened their control, culminating in the rise of Aung San Suu Kyi to lead the 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and investing in the country.