The Limited Times

At least 14 killed by the repression of protests against the coup in Myanmar

3/14/2021, 8:28:26 PM


Protesters attack Chinese-run shops. Beijing accused of supporting military junta

At least 14 protesters have died this Sunday in clashes with security forces in Yangon, the main city of Myanmar (the former Burma), according to local media.

State television has also reported the death of a police officer.

The military junta - which has governed the country since a coup on February 1 against which was the

de facto

leader

, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had won the elections months earlier - has declared martial law in the Hlaing Tharyar area of ​​the locality after protesters, carrying sticks and knives, attacked several Chinese-run shops.

"Some Chinese businesses have been raided and destroyed and many Chinese personnel have been injured or trapped," said the Chinese Embassy in the country on its Facebook page.

The situation, he added, is "very serious."

The protesters accuse Beijing of supporting the Myanmar military executive.

The protests this Sunday come hours after the acting leader of the Burmese civilian government, made up of parliamentarians deposed by the military junta, called for a "revolution" to restore democracy.

"To form a federal democracy, with all the brothers of the ethnic groups that have suffered all kinds of oppressions from the dictatorship for decades, this revolution is an opportunity to join our efforts," Mahn Win said in a six-minute speech on Facebook. Khaing Than, who is leading - in hiding for weeks - the protests following the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi on the same day of the coup.

The deadliest day took place on the 3rd, when at least 38 people were killed by the repression of the demonstrations, according to a UN estimate, and dozens were injured.

A few days before, at least 18 people lost their lives in a single day for the same reason.

Authorities under the command of the military junta have arrested 2,134 people, of whom 1,815 remain in custody.

On the morning of the coup, the army arrested Suu Kyi, the president, Win Myint, and the majority of the elected government, in addition to canceling the inauguration of the legislature scheduled for the same day.

They justify the action in an alleged electoral fraud in the elections of last November, in which the party of the deposed leader destroyed and which were described as legitimate by international observers.