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Anguish grows in Myanmar after massacres of civilians

2021-03-30T10:43:48.123Z


Myanmar's military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing hosted a lavish dinner while his troops shot dead more than 100 people in the streets.


Russia and China have interests in Myanmar, says analyst 1:34

(CNN) -

Myanmar's military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing hosted a lavish dinner on Saturday as his troops shot dead more than 100 people in the streets and forced thousands of people to flee to neighboring Thailand, during a weekend of indiscriminate terror and bloodshed that was widely condemned internationally.

Images posted on social media showed the coup leader dressed in a bowtie and a white jacket with medals walking down a red carpet, greeting attendees and sitting down to a meal to mark Armed Forces Day.

The annual holiday commemorates the beginning of the army's resistance against the Japanese occupation in World War II and the junta organized a show of force with a military parade.

Saturday was also Tabaung's full moon day, the end of Myanmar's lunar calendar and an important moment in Buddhism that should have been celebrated with festivals and visits to pagodas.

Instead, soldiers and police embarked on a massacre, killing at least 114 people, including children, in 44 towns and cities across the country on Saturday, according to a tally by independent news outlet Myanmar Now.

It was the deadliest day since the army seized power in a coup and toppled the country's elected government on February 1.

US President Joe Biden joined an international chorus of condemnation on Sunday, saying the situation in Myanmar was "dire" and described the military's actions as "absolutely outrageous."

The United States has imposed sanctions on several of the generals, including Min Aung Hlaing, and two military-owned conglomerates.

On Monday, the Biden administration announced the suspension of all diplomatic trade engagements with Myanmar.

Throughout Monday, crackdowns and shootings continued across the country and at least 14 people were shot dead, the advocacy group the Association for Assistance for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said.

At least 510 people have died since the coup, according to the AAPP.

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"Amid the crackdowns in Kyauk Myaung, Tamwe Township, Yangon region, people beat pots and pans in protest," AAPP reported.

"At the time, the junta forces told people that they would set neighborhoods on fire if people continued."

CNN obtained a video showing military personnel entering neighborhoods to stop the pounding of pots and pans, which has become a common form of protest.

Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his government has prepared for a possible influx of refugees from neighboring Myanmar.

"We have prepared the areas if the influx happens (so that we know) where to keep them," Prayut said during a press conference.

"We don't want to have any influx into our area, but we certainly have to take human rights issues into consideration."

Thailand has hosted tens of thousands of refugees in nine major camps along its border with Myanmar for three decades, following armed conflict, human rights abuses and persecution of ethnic minorities by Myanmar's armed forces.

LEE

: UN officials condemn the Myanmar Junta after more than 100 civilians were killed in one day

Some 3,000 people fled Karen State in southeastern Myanmar, crossing the border into Thailand on Sunday after military planes carried out a bombing, according to the Karen Women's Organization (KWO), which operates in the state of Karen and in the refugee camps in Thailand.

Relatives at the funeral of 13-year-old Sai Wai Yan, who was shot and killed while playing outside his home in Yangon, Myanmar, on March 28.

In addition to the indiscriminate killing of unarmed people, brutal acts were widely reported over the weekend.

A 40-year-old Mandalay resident was shot and burned alive by military troops, according to Myanmar Now, which cited residents and a night guard in the victim's neighborhood.

There were also reports of security forces firing at residential buildings, nightly raids and arrests, and looting and destruction of private property.

In a speech during a parade in the capital Naypyidaw on Saturday, Min Aung Hlaing said that the military would protect the people and fight for democracy.

However, as citizens tried to mourn their dead on Sunday, the killings and acts of violence continued.

Reuters reported that security forces opened fire on the funeral of 20-year-old student Thae Maung Maung in Bago, near the commercial capital Yangon.

The mourners were forced to flee, three people in the city told the news agency.

The children were not spared from the carnage.

At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday, according to news reports and witnesses, Reuters reported.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said 35 minors have been killed by Junta forces since the coup.

“An 11-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, two 13-year-old boys, a 13-year-old girl, three 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds, all reportedly shot dead.

A one-year-old baby was seriously injured after being hit in the eye with a rubber bullet.

These were the latest child victims on Myanmar's bloodiest day since the military seizure of power, ”Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, said in a statement.

"Millions of children and young people have been directly or indirectly exposed to traumatic scenes of violence, threatening their mental health and emotional well-being."

The AAPP said 13 people were killed on Sunday when Junta forces used live ammunition and grenades against civilians and opened fire outside a hospital in the largest city of Yangon, wounding a staff member on Sunday.

"The Junta is using grenades, not just real rounds, but machine guns in urban areas, to create a combat zone of peaceful residential houses," said AAPP.

CNN cannot independently verify the reports.

Mourners at the funeral of Tin Hla, 43, who was shot and killed by security forces during a protest against the military coup in Thanlyin on March 27.

In the country's border areas, three civilians were killed and 10,000 were forced to flee their homes and hide in the jungle, the KWO said in a statement on its official Twitter page.

"Many citizens are now hiding in terror in the jungle and more than 3,000 have crossed into Thailand for refuge," the KWO said, adding that it feared further attacks on villages in the state.

The Karen National Union (KNU), the armed ethnic group that controls parts of Myanmar's southeastern region, told CNN that the Junta carried out more airstrikes on Sunday.

Padoh Saw Taw Nee, a KNU spokesman, said the airstrikes occurred around 4 pm local time on Sunday, near the Thai border.

Armed rebel groups have been fighting off and on against the military for the past 70 years in the country's ethnic states, but fighting in some areas has increased since the coup.

The military planes killed at least two members of the KNU militia, said David Eubank, founder of the aid organization Free Burma Rangers, adding that it was the first time in 20 years that airstrikes had been carried out.

Anti-coup protesters use slingshots and stones at approaching security forces on March 28 in Yangon.

The weekend's bloodshed sparked renewed Western condemnation, with countries like the United States, Britain and the European Union speaking out.

The actions of the military were described as "massacre", "mass murder" and "shameful, cowardly and brutal" attacks by several UN officials.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, UN Special Adviser for Genocide Prevention, and Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Myanmar's armed forces to "immediately stop killing the very people they were targeting. they have a duty to serve and protect.

The officials also "strongly condemned the widespread, lethal and increasingly systematic attacks by the Myanmar armed forces against peaceful protesters, as well as other serious human rights violations since they took power on February 1, 2021."

But foreign criticism and sanctions imposed by some Western nations have so far failed to sway military leaders, nor have nearly daily protests across the country since the Junta seized power and detained elected leader Aung. Saint Suu Kyi.

UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said it was time for the world to act, if not through the UN Security Council, then through an emergency international summit.

He said the Board should be cut off from funding, such as oil and gas revenues, and access to weapons.

"Words of condemnation or concern are frankly hollow to the people of Myanmar as the military junta commits mass killings against them," he said in a statement.

CNN's Kocha Olarn, Ivan Watson, Akanksha Sharma, Richard Roth, DJ Judd, Hira Humayun, Paula Hancocks and Sarah Faidell contributed reporting.

Myanmar

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-03-30

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