Daily protests and strikes in Myanmar have paralyzed many government offices and show no signs of abating, despite the military pledging to hold new elections, calling on civil servants to return to work and threatening to
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the commercial capital Yangon today, a day after some of the biggest protests against the coup.
Myanmar police stand guard as protesters carrying slogans march in Yangon today.
The street rallies have been more peaceful than protests during the previous half-century of military rule, but they and the civil disobedience movement have paralyzed many official businesses.
`We don’t want to live the rest of our lives in fear,` said slow-driving protester Ko Soe Min.
In the second-largest city of Mandalay, protesters rallied to demand the release of two officials arrested in the coup.
Ending the civil disobedience campaign appears to be a priority for the junta.
`It’s surprising to see the solidarity of our people. The power of the people must return to the people,` actor Lu Min, on the military’s `wanted list,` posted a defiant Facebook post.
An activist group monitoring social networks said that since February 9, posts expressing opposition appeared in about 90% of cities and towns across the country.
Police were deployed in Yangon today amid large protests taking place continuously.
Train service was seriously disrupted on February 17.
Neither the army nor the police made any immediate comment on the incident, but the army’s Facebook page said forces were providing security across the country to `ensure people get
Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 495 people have been detained since the coup earlier this month.
The military said a policeman died from injuries sustained during a protest.
On February 1, the Myanmar military arrested State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and senior officials in the elected government, after accusing them of fraud in the November 2020 election.
The coup sparked the largest wave of protests in more than a decade in Myanmar, spreading throughout the country, forcing security forces to deploy armored vehicles, spray water cannons, and fire tear gas and rubber bullets.