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"We don't want a dictatorship": protests and tanks in Rangoon, the largest city in Myanmar
Photo: - / AFP
In Myanmar, police cracked down on peaceful demonstrators on Sunday evening.
In Myitkyina in the north of the country, security forces reportedly shot at participants in a rally against the military coup that evening.
Videos shared on Twitter showed people scattering in a panic.
It was initially unclear whether there were injuries and whether it was live ammunition or rubber bullets.
The western embassies in Myanmar called on the country's military "to stop using violence against demonstrators and civilians".
In a statement released late Sunday, the embassies of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and 11 other nations condemned the arrests of opposition activists and the harassment of journalists following the military coup.
»We support the people of Myanmar in their pursuit of democracy, freedom, peace and prosperity.
The world is watching «, the statement said.
Local journalist Mratt Kyaw Thu and other observers reported that several journalists filming the army's operations were arrested.
Many users desperately called on the international community on social networks to help Myanmar.
In the largest city of Rangoon, numerous tanks drove in in the evening (local time), as an eyewitness to the German press agency reported.
Corresponding photos could also be seen in social networks.
According to the newspaper "The Irrawaddy", the Internet should be blocked all night by order of the army.
"People fear bad things," said the eyewitness.
In the past, the military had brutally put down any resistance.
"Respects our voices"
Before that, tens of thousands of people took to the streets against the coup and the military junta.
The army had reverted to power in the night of February 1st in the former Burma and took the de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and numerous other politicians into custody.
The junta then imposed a one-year state of emergency and appointed a new cabinet.
As on Saturday, a crowd gathered in front of the US embassy in Rangoon to support Washington’s tough stance against the coup plotters.
President Joe Biden announced sanctions against leading generals and their affiliates in the White House on Wednesday.
“Help Myanmar”, “We do not want a dictatorship” and “Respect our voices” were previously read on banners in English in Rangoon (now officially Yangon).
The portal »Eleven Myanmar« also reported demonstrations from the cities of Mawlamyaing, Muse, Magway, Taunggi and Mandalay on the ninth day of protest in a row.
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dpa / reuters / kik