Death Toll Mounts as Myanmar’s Military Seeks to Crush Protests Police open fire on demonstrators, killing at least 38 people in deadliest day since coup
At least 38 people were killed as Myanmar’s new military rulers, who overthrew its democratically elected government Feb. 1, continued to unleash a lethal campaign to suppress protests that have swept the country for nearly a month.
The death toll, announced by the United Nations, makes Wednesday the deadliest day since the takeover.
Security forces opened fire at protesters in numerous cities, according to demonstrators and medics responding to the violence. A 19-year-old woman, wearing a T-shirt that read, “Everything will be ok,” was fatally shot in the head. Men were struck by bullets in their eyes and chests as they ran, and police assaulted medics.
Protesters had been more cautious since a crackdown on Sunday, when police killed at least 18 people. Security forces who had only occasionally shot live rounds before that day have since used gunfire frequently, according to civil-society groups, protesters and medics.
Protesters have poured into the streets for 26 straight days demanding that the coup, which ended a decadelong transition to democracy, be reversed. Demonstrations at times drawing tens of thousands have taken place, with crowds mobilizing in towns and cities across the country. The large-scale participation has underscored the broad rejection of the military, which governed Myanmar for half a century before the democratic shift began.
The killings on Sunday and Wednesday indicate that the generals are turning to the same approach used during decades of army dictatorship to crush dissent: bloodshed, mass arrests and nightly raids to strike terror. Commander in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who is now in control, has shown no willingness to compromise or respond to the widespread international condemnation of the military regime’s actions. He has said authorities are acting with restraint.
On Wednesday, six people were killed in the country’s largest city, Yangon, according to a doctor at the North Okkalapa General Hospital. Others died in the central cities of Mandalay, Monywa and Myingyan, according to rescue organizations helping the injured in those places.
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