Myanmar security forces ram car into protest in Yangon, deaths feared
Soldiers stand next to military vehicles as people gather to protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, February 15, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
Myanmar security forces in a car rammed into an anti-coup protest on Sunday morning in Yangon, with at least half a dozen protesters arrested and dozens injured, according to two witnesses at the scene.
Anti-military protests are continuing despite the killing of more than 1,300 people since the Feb. 1 coup. The scattered protests are often small groups voicing opposition to the overthrow of an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule.
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On Sunday, a “flash mob” protest in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, was rammed minutes after it started, and witnesses told Reuters police arrested several people.
“I got hit and fell down in front of a truck. A soldier beat me with his rifle but I defended and pushed him back. Then he immediately shot at me as I ran away in a zig-zag pattern. Fortunately, I escaped,” a protester who asked not to be identified for security reasons told Reuters by phone.
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A civilian car occupied by soldiers hit the mob from the back, two witnesses said, and followed the scattered protesters arresting and beating them. Some were seriously injured with head wounds and unconscious, according to the witnesses.
A spokesman for the ruling junta did not answer calls seeking comment on Sunday.
The military has said that protesters who have been killed instigated the violence. It says it staged the coup because a November election won by Suu Kyi’s party was rigged. The election commission has dismissed the assertion.
Wars with ethnic minority insurgents in remote frontier regions in the north and east have intensified significantly since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates.
Suu Kyi, 76, faces a dozen cases against her including incitement and violations of COVID-19 protocols.
She has rejected all the charges to date.
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