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Protesters protect themselves from security forces: Escalation in Myanmar
Photo: STR / AFP
In Myanmar, tens of thousands of people across the country demonstrated against the military coup a good month ago.
There was again a violent attack by the security forces on Sunday.
In the city of Lashio in the north of the Southeast Asian country, the police used tear gas and stun grenades against demonstrators, as live images on Facebook showed.
In the historic temple city of Bagan, eyewitness reports said the police opened fire to disperse a protest.
It was unclear whether they fired with rubber bullets or live ammunition.
Reports of fatalities or injuries are not yet available.
There were also demonstrations in around half a dozen other cities, including Mandalay, the second largest city.
There activists protested with a sit-in strike after they had thought of the people who were killed by the police and army in the protests in recent weeks with two minutes of silence.
"In some districts NLD representatives were arrested, we do not know exactly how many"
NLD politician Soe Win
In Yangon, the largest city in the country, the demonstrators did not allow themselves to be deterred by police raids at night.
The aim of these missions in some districts of the economic metropolis are said to have been supporters of the disempowered politician Aung San Suu Kyi, according to representatives of her party NLD.
"NLD representatives have been arrested in some districts, we don't know exactly how many," said NLD politician Soe Win.
NLD MP Sithu Maung reported on Facebook that junta forces appeared at the house of party spokesman U Maung Maung's house that night.
When they couldn't find him there, they beat and tortured his brother.
In the state media, members of parliament who formed the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Committee were severely threatened.
With their claim to provide the lawful government of Myanmar, they had committed high treason, it was said in statements of the state media.
High treason is punished with long imprisonment or death.
Public officials were threatened with immediate dismissal in the state media on Saturday if they did not return to their jobs.
Many servants are currently boycotting the work in protest against the junta.
On February 1, the military had put a coup against the head of government Aung San Suu Kyi.
The 75-year-old had won the parliamentary election in November by a clear margin.
Since the coup, there have been repeated mass protests in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country protested against the military junta on Saturday.
According to the United Nations, at least 38 people were killed in protests against the military coup on Wednesday alone when police shot protesters with live ammunition.
According to the UN, more than 50 demonstrators have been killed and around 1,700 people arrested.
The number could continue to rise because many people were injured, some seriously.
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mxw / Reuters / AFP