Myanmar military warns protesters may suffer ‘loss of life’ ahead of planned mass attack

Myanmar military warns protesters may suffer ‘loss of life’ ahead of planned mass attack

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“The demonstrators were found to have increased incitement to the mob of riots and anarchy on February 22. Protesters are now urging people, especially teenagers and emotional young people, to a confrontational path where they will suffer loss of life, ”o The State Administration Council – name of the military junta that now controls the country – declared Sunday night on the state broadcaster MRTV.

Social media video on Sunday night and Monday morning showed barbed wire blocking roads to some foreign embassies in the largest city, Yangon, the focus of many recent protests. The images also showed what appeared to be police and military vehicles circling the streets.

Protesters called for a general strike, with all offices and stores closed on Monday. Activists urged all citizens to join the protest, known as the “Five Two” in reference to Monday’s date.

“Tomorrow, 22.2.2021, will be a great historic day. Keep watching us and pray for us, friends,” said the leading protest activist group of the Movement for Civil Disobedience in a tweet on Sunday.

Weekend protests

For more than two weeks, thousands of people in villages, towns and cities in Myanmar demonstrated to peacefully protest or participate in a non-violent civil disobedience movement against military control, asking generals to return power and free civil leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected officials.
The junta tried to stop the protests by imposing bans on meetings of more than five people and curfews in certain areas and cutting off the internet at night. They also sent troops to large cities, including members of elite counterinsurgency divisions documented to be involved in human rights abuses and violent campaigns against ethnic minorities.
During the day, Myanmar protesters are challenging dissidents. At night, they are afraid of being dragged from their beds by the board

The Burmese Political Prison Assistance Association (AAPPB) said at least 640 people were detained in connection with the coup.

But that did not stop the protesters, who met in large numbers on Sunday after the fatal shootings in Mandalay.

In Yangon, protesters marched in front of the United States Embassy waving banners that said “Help Myanmar”. In Myitkyina, the capital of the state of Kachin, in northern Myanmar, protesters can be seen shouting slogans and waving flags while riding a motorcycle.

And in the capital, Naypyidaw, large crowds gathered to attend the funeral of a young woman, who died on Friday after being shot in the head during an anti-coup protest. Mya Thweh Thweh Khine, who was shot shortly before her 20th birthday, was the first known victim in pro-democracy protests.

The video of his funeral procession showed a hearse with his photo on the front and a convoy of vehicles leaving a hospital. As the procession roamed the streets, people on motorcycles and passers-by were seen raising the three-finger salute from the Hunger Games films, which was adopted by the protesters.

Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that officials were “exercising maximum control through the use of minimal force” in dealing with the protests. He also said that the statements and comments made by some foreign countries are “tantamount to blatant interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs”.

In a Facebook post, the ministry asked diplomats to “respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state” and reiterated that “free and fair general elections” will take place. The state of emergency has been in place in Myanmar for a year, but the junta has not given a deadline to hold the elections.

International condemnation of military action

Several countries have condemned the coup and violence against demonstrators.

Singapore warned on Saturday that there will be “serious adverse consequences” for Myanmar if the situation continues to get worse. Singapore, which was the largest foreign investor in Myanmar in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, said it was “inexcusable” for Myanmar police to use lethal weapons against unarmed civilians.

European Union head of foreign affairs Josep Borrell on Saturday called on the military and “all security forces in Myanmar to stop violence against civilians immediately”.

In Mandalay on Sunday, CNN stringers confirmed that live shots and tear gas were used to disperse people in an anti-coup protest in the city. Emergency volunteer workers quoted by Reuters and AFP news agencies said at least two people died when police opened fire on protesters. News agencies reported that between 20 and 30 people were injured in the crackdown.

In a video seen by CNN, a large crowd of people could be seen fleeing the police and hiding behind any shelter they could find. In another video, a person can be seen being stretcher by doctors. The patient’s condition was not immediately clear.

The military defended their actions on state broadcasting on Sunday, saying they used “prescribed methods of dispersing the crowd” and blamed “some notorious ex-criminals and their gangs” who “used sticks, knives, stones, catapults and other weapon-like materials. to attack members of the security force. “

The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said in a tweet that he was “horrified by more loss of life” while the military “increased its brutality in Myanmar”.

“From water cannons to rubber bullets to tear gas and now hardened troops firing at point blank range against peaceful protesters. This madness must end now!” he said.

After the shooting, Facebook deleted a page run by the Myanmar military, the company said.

“In line with our global policies, we have removed the Tatmadaw True News information team page from Facebook for repeated violations of our Community Standards that prohibit incitement to violence and harm coordination,” said a Facebook spokesman in a statement. .

Radina Gigova of CNN in Atlanta and Sophie Jeong in Hong Kong contributed to the report.

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