“Today is a day of shame for the armed forces,” said Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group created by deposed lawmakers, in an online forum.
“Military generals are celebrating Armed Forces Day after killing more than 300 innocent civilians,” he said, giving a rough estimate of the death toll since the protests began weeks ago.
At least four people died when security forces opened fire on a crowd protesting outside a police station in the suburb of Dala, Yangon, on Saturday morning, Myanmar Now reported. At least 10 people were injured. said the news portal.
Three people, including a young man who plays for a local U21 soccer team, were shot and killed in a protest in the city’s Insein neighborhood, a neighbor told Reuters.
Thirteen people were killed in several incidents in Mandalay, Myanmar Now said. Deaths have also been reported in the Sagaing region near Mandalay, in the eastern city of Lashio, in the Bago region, near Yangon and elsewhere, he said.
Myanmar Now said that a total of at least 50 people were killed on Saturday. Reuters was unable to independently verify the death toll.
A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
After presiding over a military parade in the capital, Naypyitaw, to mark Armed Forces Day, General Min Aung Hlaing reiterated his promise to hold elections, without giving any deadline.
“The army seeks to join hands with the entire nation to safeguard democracy,” said the general in a live broadcast on state television, adding that officials also sought to protect the people and restore peace across the country.
“Violent acts that affect stability and security to make demands are inadequate.”
The number of people killed in the turmoil since the coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi is now almost 380, based on Thursday’s death toll and a count by an activist group.
Head shots
In a threatening warning on Friday night, state television said the protesters “were at risk of being shot in the head and back.”
The notice did not specifically say that security forces had been ordered to shoot to kill, but the junta had already tried to suggest that some fatal shots came from within the crowd.
But it showed the military’s determination to avoid any disturbance surrounding Armed Forces Day, which celebrates the beginning of resistance to the Japanese occupation in 1945, orchestrated by Suu Kyi’s father, the founder of the military.
Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s most popular civilian politician, remains detained in an undisclosed location. Many other figures in his party are also in custody.
In a week when international pressure on the junta increased with new American and European sanctions, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin attended the parade in Naypyitaw, having met with top leaders of the junta the day before.
“Russia is a true friend,” said Min Aung Hlaing. There were no signs of other diplomats at an event that is often attended by many officials from foreign countries.
The support of Russia and China, which also refrained from criticism, is important for the junta, as they are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and can block potential UN actions.
Protesters have taken to the streets almost daily since the coup that derailed Myanmar’s slow transition to democracy.
Myanmar’s ethnic armed factions will not stand still and do nothing if the junta forces continue to kill protesters, said the leader of one of the main armed groups.
“Myanmar Armed Forces Day is not an armed forces day, it is more like the day they killed people,” General Yawd Serk, chairman of the Shan State Restoration Council / State Army, told Reuters. Shan – South.
“It is not to protect democracy either, it is how they undermine democracy … If they continue to shoot demonstrators and intimidate the people, I think that all ethnic groups would not just stand still and do nothing.”