YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters in the largest city in Myanmar left Monday night for their first mass protests in defiance of the 8 pm curfew, seeking to show support for some 200 students arrested by security forces in a small area of a neighborhood.
Students and other civilians previously participated in one of the many daily protests across the country against the military’s seizure of power last month, which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
The military government also severely restricted media coverage of the crisis. It announced that licenses for five local media outlets – Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News – have been canceled.
“These media companies are no longer allowed to broadcast, write or provide information using any type of media platform or any media technology,” said state broadcaster MRTV.
All five offered extensive coverage of the protests, often with live online videos. Myanmar Now offices were raided by authorities on Monday, before the measure was announced. The government arrested dozens of journalists since the coup, including a Myanmar Now reporter and Thein Zaw of the Associated Press, both charged under a public order law that provides for up to three years in prison.
Nightly street protests began after police cordoned off part of Yangon’s Sanchaung neighborhood and are believed to be conducting door-to-door searches for those who fled security forces’ attacks to seek shelter in the homes of sympathetic strangers.
News of his situation spread quickly on social media, and people rushed to the streets of neighborhoods across the city to show solidarity and in the hope of taking some of the pressure off the persecuted protesters. In some streets, they built improvised barricades with whatever was at hand.
In the district of Insein, they spread across road intersections, singing songs, chanting pro-democracy slogans and hitting objects against each other.
All diplomatic missions in the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union issued statements urging security forces to allow detainees to return safely to their homes. While everyone strongly criticized the February 1 coup and police violence, it is unusual for such diplomatic statements to be issued in connection with a specific ongoing incident.
“There is a high tension caused by security forces around Kyun Taw Road in Sanchaung Township, Yangon. We call on these security forces to withdraw and allow people to return home safely, ”said the statement from the United States Embassy.
Around midnight Myanmar time, there were no reports of clashes between police and protesters, although security forces chased crowds, harassed residents who watched from windows and fired shock grenades. There were also some reports of injuries from rubber bullets.
Night hours are becoming increasingly dangerous in Myanmar. Police and army units routinely roam the neighborhoods, firing randomly to intimidate residents and disturb their sleep, in addition to making selective arrests.
Security forces shot and killed two people in northern Myanmar during the day, local media reported.
The online newspaper Irrawaddy said the victims were shot in the head during anti-coup protests in Myitkyina, Kachin state. Graphic video on social media showed protesters moving away from tear gas, responding with stones and fleeing after a firefight of what appeared to be automatic shooting.
Protesters rushed the wounded, including an apparent fatality, a person with a serious head injury. A second body was later seen on a stretcher, the head covered with a cloth.
Another shooting death occurred in Pyapon, a city about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Yangon.
So far, the government’s violent crackdown has left more than 50 protesters dead. At least 18 people were shot dead on February 28 and 38 on Wednesday, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
Security forces also cracked down on anti-coup demonstrators elsewhere on Monday, firing tear gas to disperse a crowd of about 1,000 people demonstrating in Pyinmana, a satellite city in the capital, Naypyitaw. Protesters deployed fire extinguishers to create a smokescreen as they fled the authorities.
Thousands of protesters who marched in Mandalay, the second largest city, dispersed on their own amid fear that soldiers and police would plan to stop the demonstration with force.
Meanwhile, an armed force from one of Myanmar’s ethnic groups has been deployed to protect anti-coup protesters following brutal repression by the junta.
Karen’s National Police Force unit arrived shortly after dawn to accompany some 2,000 protesters near Myitta, in the Tanintharyi region of southeastern Myanmar. They carried a variety of firearms, including assault rifles, as they marched in front of the column on dusty country roads.
Karen’s police force is under the control of the Karen National Union, one of many ethnic organizations that have been fighting for greater autonomy from the central government for decades. The KNU employs political means and, through its armed wing, military means to achieve its objectives.
Large-scale protests have occurred daily in many cities and towns since Myanmar’s military seized power, and security forces responded with increasing use of lethal force and mass arrests.
On Sunday, police occupied hospitals and universities and reportedly arrested hundreds of people involved in the protest against the military coup.