YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar security forces shot dead at least eight people on Wednesday, according to social media and local news reports, as authorities expanded their deadly crackdown on last month’s anti-coup protests.
Videos from various locations showed security forces firing catapults at protesters, chasing them and even brutally beating an ambulance crew.
Protesters have regularly flooded the streets of cities across the country since the military took power on Feb. 1 and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. Their numbers have remained high despite security forces repeatedly firing tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowd and massively arresting protesters.
Sadly, the growing stalemate is well known in a country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military rule – and brutality. The coup reversed the years of slow progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.
Security forces killed at least 18 protesters on Sunday, according to the UN Human Rights Agency. On Wednesday, there were reports of an additional eight deaths in four different cities, including a 14-year-old boy.
Security forces have also arrested hundreds of people in protests, including journalists. At least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained on Saturday. A video shows that he had stepped aside when police fell down a street on protesters, but was then grabbed by police officers, who put handcuffs on him and strangled him for a moment before marching him away.
He has been charged with violating a public security law that could give him a prison sentence of up to three years.
The escalation of the crackdown has led to increased diplomatic efforts to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar, but there seem to be few viable options.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold a closed meeting on the situation Friday, said council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide the information before the official announcement. The UK has requested the meeting, they said.
Still, any concerted action at the United Nations will be difficult, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it. Some countries have imposed or are considering imposing their own sanctions.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, held a conference call of foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
But action is unlikely there too. The regional group of 10 countries has a tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. A statement by the chairman after the meeting called only for an end to the violence and for discussions to reach a peaceful settlement.
Myanmar’s security forces ignored that appeal and continued to attack peaceful protesters on Wednesday.
Details of the crackdown and victims are difficult to confirm independently, especially those outside the larger cities. But reports of most attacks have been consistent across social media and from local news outlets, and usually include videos and photos supporting them. It is also likely that many attacks in remote areas go unreported.
In Yangon, the country’s largest city, where some of the biggest protests have taken place, three people were killed, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news service. The deaths were also reported on Twitter, where some photos of bodies were posted.
In addition, a widespread video from a security camera showed police in town brutally beating members of an ambulance crew – apparently after they were arrested. The police can kick the three crew members and hit them with rifle butts.
Security forces are believed to select medical workers for arrest and assault because members of the medical profession launched the country’s civil disobedience movement to oppose the junta.
Two people were reportedly shot dead in Mandalay, the country’s second largest city. Photos posted to social media showed a college student peacefully participating in the protest, and later showing her seemingly lifeless with a head wound. Social media accounts said a man was also murdered.
Riot police in town, backed by soldiers, broke up a demonstration and chased about 1,000 teachers and students from a tear gas street because gunshots could be heard.
Video from The Associated Press showed a team of police firing catapults at protesters as they scattered.
In the central city of Monywa, which has become huge crowds, three people were shot on Wednesday, including one in the head, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported. According to reports on social media, two have died.
In Myingyan, in the same central region, multiple social media posts reported the shot and death of a 14-year-old boy. Photos said on posters to be of his body showed his head and chest drenched in blood while being carried by fellow protesters.
Live fire was also reported to have caused injuries in Magwe, including central Myanmar; in the city of Hpakant in the northern state of Kachin; and in Pyinoolwin, a city in central Myanmar better known to many by its British colonial name Maymyo.
This story has been updated to correct that there is a report of one death in Myingyan, not two.