Twitter
Advertisement

Myanmar police fire tear gas at protestors, media reports claim woman shot dead in Monywa

The coup has brought thousands of protesters to Myanmar's streets and drawn condemnation from Western countries, with some imposing limited sanctions.

Latest News
article-main
(Image Source: Reuters)
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Protesters, gathering in the central Myanmar city of Monywa were forced to flee on Saturday (February 27) after police fired tear gas at them. Media reports said a woman was shot and killed in Monywa, but the circumstances of the shooting were not clear and police were not immediately available for comment.

Police were out in force early in the main city of Yangon and elsewhere, deployed at usual protest sites and detaining people as they congregated, witnesses said. People still gathered, their numbers building through the morning, to chant and sing, then melting away into side streets as police advanced, apparently setting off stun grenades and firing into the air.

Myanmar police tried to disperse groups of protesters around Yangon on Saturday, detaining a few of them as they tried to flee. One protester said they were inspired to come out onto the streets by Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations, who on Friday made a dramatic plea at the UN General Assembly to help end the military coup.

Meanwhile, in the southeastern city of Dawei too, Myanmar police fired canisters at protesters who blocked a road on Saturday in protest against military rule, enveloping the area in smoke.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership, alleging fraud in a November election her party had won in a landslide.

The coup has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters to Myanmar's streets and drawn condemnation from Western countries, with some imposing limited sanctions.

What happened so far?

The February 1 coup and the arrest of Suu Kyi and others have sparked the biggest protests in Myanmar in more than a decade.

Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets across the country to denounce the coup, which derailed the Southeast Asian country`s tentative transition to democracy, and to call for Suu Kyi`s release.

The unrest has revived memories of bloody outbreaks of opposition to almost half a century of direct army rule, which ended when the military began a process of withdrawing from civilian politics in 2011.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement