Myanmar security forces kill seven protesters, a Chinese-owned factory is set on fire

(Reuters) – Myanmar forces shot at protesters against the coup on Wednesday, killing at least seven people and injuring several, media said, as a Chinese factory was set on fire in the commercial capital of Yangon and activists burned the Chinese flag.

The country’s military ruler said the civil disobedience movement was “devastating” Myanmar.

According to an activist group, more than 580 people have died in the unrest in Myanmar since a February 1 coup that ended a brief period of civilian-led democracy. National protests and strikes have since continued despite the military’s use of deadly force to suppress opposition.

Security forces opened fire on protesters in the northwestern city of Kale on Wednesday when they demanded the restoration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government, a resident told Reuters.

News outlets cited witnesses who said there were victims and that there was repeated gunfire. Mizzima and Irrawaddy news outlets said five people were killed and several injured.

Kale’s resident said the information was provided to him by witnesses who took photos of five bodies.

Reuters could not independently verify the toll.

Two protesters were killed in Bago town near Yangon, Myanmar Now news report said.

According to news reports and the fire department, a fire broke out in the Chinese JOC Garment Factory in Yangon on Wednesday. There were no reports of casualties and no details of the extent of the damage.

In another neighborhood in Yangon, activists set fire to the Chinese flag, photos posted on Facebook show.

China is seen as a supporter of the military junta, and last month there were arson attacks on 32 Chinese-invested factories in Yangon.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the junta, said in a statement Wednesday that the civil disobedience movement or CDM had halted the operation of hospitals, schools, roads, offices and factories.

“While protests are being held in neighboring countries and the international community, they are not destroying businesses,” he said. “CDM is an activity to destroy the country.”

According to the Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group, 581 people, including dozens of children, have been shot dead by troops and police in almost daily turmoil since the coup, and security forces have arrested nearly 3,500 people, still employing 2,750 people. detained.

JUNTA ‘LOSING CONTROL’

The mostly youth-led anti-coup movement’s ability to run campaigns and share information through social media and instant messaging is seriously hampered by the limitation of wireless broadband and mobile data services.

Fixed-line services, which few in Myanmar have access to, are available.

“Myanmar has been subject to a gradual collapse into the information abyss since February,” Alp Toker, founder of the Internet-blocking observatory NetBlocks, told Reuters.

“Communication is now severely limited and available only to the few.”

Now that the print media has also stopped, protesters have sought solutions to get their message across, by producing their own A4 daily newspapers that are digitally shared and printed for distribution to the public.

Arrest warrants have been issued for hundreds of people, with the junta pursuing dozens of influencers, entertainers, artists and musicians this week.

The country’s most famous comedian, Zarganar, was arrested on Tuesday, the media reported.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab discussed how Britain and the international community could support a South East Asian effort to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said after meeting with her British counterpart. in Jakarta.

Indonesia is one of several Southeast Asian countries that is spurring high-level talks on Myanmar.

Western countries, including the United States, Britain and Australia, have imposed or tightened sanctions on the generals and the military’s vast network of corporate monopolies in response to the coup, detentions and the use of deadly force against protesters.

The European Union is expected to follow suit.

Russia, which has expressed support for Myanmar’s ruling military council, said on Tuesday that the West is at risk of sparking civil war by imposing sanctions on the junta.

Fitch Solutions said in a report Wednesday that targeted Western sanctions are unlikely to succeed alone in restoring democracy. In the medium term, it predicted a violent revolution in which the military would face an armed opposition made up of members of the anti-coup movement and ethnic militias.

Some ethnic minority forces, which control large swathes of border regions, have said they cannot stand by as the junta kills people and have already engaged the military in skirmishes.

Fitch said Myanmar was headed for a failed state.

“The escalating violence against civilians and ethnic militias shows that the Tatmadaw (army) is increasingly losing control of the country,” it said, adding that the vast majority of people were behind Suu Kyi’s deposed government.