YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Security forces in central Myanmar opened fire on anti-coup protesters on Saturday, killing at least two people, according to local media. A human rights organization said the increasing violence since the February 1 military takeover has killed at least 550 civilians.
Of them, 46 were children, according to the Myanmar Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. About 2,751 people have been detained or convicted, according to the group.
Threats of deadly violence and arrests of protesters have failed to quell the daily demonstrations across Myanmar demanding that the military resign and the democratically elected government restored. The coup reversed the years of slow progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian country.
The Myanmar Now news service reported that government forces fired at protesters in the city of Monywa, killing at least two people. A video posted to social media showed a group of protesters carrying a young man with a seemingly serious head wound while gunfire rang out. His condition was not immediately known.
At least seven people were injured in the shooting, two of whom were seriously injured and taken into custody by soldiers, Myanmar Now said, citing a member of a local rescue team.
On Friday night, civilian armed police took five people into custody after speaking to a CNN reporter at a market in Yangon, the country’s largest city, local media reported, citing witnesses. The arrests took place in three separate incidents.
Two women called for help while under arrest, Myanmar Now reports. A police officer, carrying a gun, asked if “someone dared to help them,” a witness told the news service.
“They aimed their guns at everyone – at passers-by and at people in the store,” said a witness of two police officers who forcibly took two other women into the marketplace.
Meanwhile, the Karen National Union, representing the ethnic minority rebel group that has been fighting the government for decades, condemned “non-stop bombing and air raids” on villages and “unarmed civilians” in their homeland along the border with Thailand.
“The attacks have caused the death of many people, including children and students, and the destruction of schools, homes and villages. These terrorist acts are clearly a blatant violation of local and international laws, ”the group said in a statement.
More than a dozen civilians and more than 20,000 displaced people have been killed in areas controlled by the Karen since March 27, according to the Free Burma Rangers, an aid organization operating in the region.
About 3,000 Karen fled to Thailand, but many have returned in unclear circumstances. Thai authorities said they were returning voluntarily, but aid groups say they are not safe and many are hiding in the jungle and in caves on the Myanmar side of the border.
More than a dozen minority groups have sought more autonomy from central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle. Several of the major groups – including the Kachin, Karen and Rakhine Arakan military – have denounced the coup and said they will defend protesters in their territory.
After weeks of overnight Internet access interruptions, Myanmar’s military shut down all connections on Friday, except for those using fiber optic cable, which operated at drastically slower speeds. Access to cellular networks and all wireless networks – the cheaper options used by most people in the developing world – remained blocked on Saturday.
Myanmar languished under strict military rule for five decades, leading to international isolation and sanctions. When the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in the 2015 election, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and plunging investment into the country.