The military responded to the protests with bloody repression. At least 550 people were killed by the junta’s forces, according to the advocacy group of the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP).
At least 2,751 people, including journalists, protesters, activists, government officials, union members, writers, students, civilians and even children, were arrested, often in nightly raids, according to the AAPP.
On Friday, most of Myanmar’s citizens woke up without access to the Internet after telecommunications companies received instructions from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to stop wireless broadband services.
Telecommunications company Ooredoo’s customers received text messages the night before saying that wireless services would be stopped until further notice. The directive was dated April 1. Most customers in Myanmar connect to the internet via wireless data services and the move will leave only those with physical connections to access the web.
Mobile data was also disabled for the 19th day, according to the Netblocks internet monitor.
CNN contacted the Myanmar military to comment on shutting down the wireless internet.
While the military is restricting the flow of information, dozens of journalists have been detained by security forces, according to the UN, and also citizens who have spoken to the media, according to reports.
A CNN team spoke with residents on Friday during a visit to a bazaar in Yangon’s Insein municipality. CNN is in Myanmar with the permission of the military and is being escorted by the military, including during the market visit.
Two women were arrested later, according to a report by the local newspaper The Irrawaddy. The report included an eyewitness report that a woman was seen speaking to the CNN team. It is not clear from this report whether that woman was among those who were arrested soon after. An improvised protest against the regime erupted while the team was present, the report added.
Several unverified reports posted on social media said that at least two people were taken by security forces after speaking with the CNN team.
CNN contacted the Myanmar military to comment on the reported arrests.
In its latest statement, AAPP said it could confirm the location of “only a small fraction” of the recently identified detainees.