Myanmar police fire stun grenades at rally, critically injuring three protesters

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Myanmar: police fire stun grenades at protesters in Yangon – video

Three people have been critically injured after security forces fired live rounds at anti-coup protesters in north-western Myanmar, medics said, as south-east Asian powers met to pressure the junta over its deadly crackdown.

Police also fired stun grenades and rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse protesters in the city of Yangon, according to witnesses, as demonstrations continued over the military’s removal of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago.

In the north-western town of Kale, a rally turned violent when security forces opened fire on protesters, according to medics who treated those wounded.

“About 20 people were injured in a morning crackdown by police and soldiers in Kale,” said a rescue worker, on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. “Three were hit by live rounds and are in critical condition,” he said, adding that police had initially deployed teargas and rubber bullets, before doubling back with live rounds.

A doctor who treated the patients in a local hospital confirmed the number of people in critical condition.

“One was hit in his thigh and he’s now undergoing an operation. Another one got hit in the abdomen and he requires blood transfusions … Another one got hit in the chest,” he told Agence France-Presse. “His condition is a concern – we do not like it.”

Sunday was the bloodiest day since the 1 February coup, with the UN saying that at least 18 protesters across the country were killed.

Protesters – many wearing hard hats, thick gloves and goggles and holding makeshift shields – gathered on Tuesday behind barricades in different parts of Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, to chant slogans against military rule.

“If we’re oppressed, there will be explosion. If we’re hit, we’ll hit back,” the crowd chanted at one Yangon protest before police moved in to break it up with stun grenades, witnesses said. There were no reports of any injuries.

“There is an anxious feeling,” said a 24-year-old demonstrator in a hard hat at Myaynigone Intersection. “No one knows what’s going to happen.”

Moments later police began firing stun grenades at the crowd she was in. In between the shots, she said: “They are trying to scare us to get us to disperse.” Crowds also gathered in other parts of the country, media reported.

Other sections of main roads in downtown Yangon were eerily silent yet tense, with armed riot police stationed at major junctions. Around Sule Pagoda, a rallying point for demonstrators in recent weeks, small numbers of pedestrians quickly passed.

Sanchaung Street, a popular stretch about 20 minutes from downtown Yangon, was barricaded with sandbags by residents. A 25-year-old demonstrator said he expected the security forces to raid the area by the end of the day.

“They come here shooting and steal anything valuable that they see,’ he said outside his local teashop, which he said police had looted. “They are robbers. Now we are protecting our neighbourhood. They shot in this area this morning. It seems like they are taking a lunch break now, like they did yesterday. We are waiting for the second strike.”

By late afternoon, protesters had dispersed and security forces were sweeping through the area in an apparent show of force, while residents in the surrounding buildings chanted protest slogans and clanged pots and pans from the windows.

Hundreds of people have been arrested since the coup, according to activists. Among them is a journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), who livestreamed the arrival of security forces outside his apartment on Monday in the coastal town of Myeik, where he had been filming protests.

Loud bangs could be heard during Kaung Myat Hlaing’s live stream, which was hosted on DVB’s official Facebook page. “If you are shooting like this, how will I come down?” he shouted at the security forces outside.

DVB said it had “no knowledge of where he was taken away, and which military authority took him”, adding that Kaung Myat Hlaing’s latest reports were on a weekend military crackdown in Myeik, as well as on Monday’s demonstrations.

Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said his counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would be frank when they meet by video call on Tuesday and would tell a representative of Myanmar’s military they were appalled by the violence.

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In a television interview late on Monday, Balakrishnan said Asean would encourage dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta. “They need to talk, and we need to help bring them together,” he said.

The Asean grouping includes Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.

The military justified the coup saying its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party were ignored. The election commission said the vote was fair.

Asean’s efforts to engage with Myanmar’s military have been criticised by some. A committee of ousted Myanmar lawmakers has declared the junta a “terrorist” group and said Asean’s engagement would give it legitimacy. Sa Sa, the committee’s anointed envoy to the United Nations, said Asean should have no dealings with “this illegitimate military-led regime”.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse