Troops fire at funeral as Myanmar mourns bloodiest day since coup
- 28 Mar 2021
Gulf Today Report
Myanmar security forces opened fire on Sunday, witnesses said, at people gathered for the funeral of one of the 114 people killed the previous day, the bloodiest day of protests since the military coup on Feb. 1.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the firing on the funeral in the town of Bago, near the commercial capital Yangon, according to three people who spoke to Reuters.
Defence chiefs from a dozen countries on Sunday jointly condemned the bloodbath in Myanmar.
The junta on Saturday staged a major show of might for its annual Armed Forces Day as the death toll since the February 1 coup climbed to at least 423, according to a local monitoring group.
Relatives crying over the body after he was shot dead during an anti-coup protest. Facebook/AFP
Children were among those killed on Saturday, Myanmar's Armed Forces Day, according to news reports and witnesses, in a crackdown that drew renewed Western criticism. The UN investigator said the army was carrying out "mass murder".
"We salute our heroes who sacrificed lives during this revolution and We Must Win This REVOLUTION," one of the main protest groups, the General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN), posted on Facebook.
Saturday also brought some of the heaviest fighting since the coup between the army and the ethnic armed groups that control swathes of the country.
Family members cry in front of a body of a man after he was shot dead during an anti-coup protest. Reuters
"Today is a day of shame for the armed forces," Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum.
The deaths on Saturday, one of the bloodiest days since the coup, would take the number of civilians reported killed to nearly 400. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in parts of Myanmar on Saturday.
A boy reported by local media to be as young as five was among at least 13 people killed in Myanmar's second city of Mandalay. The Myanmar Now news portal said 64 people had been killed in total across the country by 2.30pm (0800 GMT).
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Three people, including a man who plays in a local under-21 football team, were killed in a protest in the Insein district of Myanmar's biggest city Yangon, a neighbour told Reuters.
The leader of the ruling junta said the military will protect the people and strive for democracy, news reports and witnesses said.
Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing presides over an army parade in Naypyitaw. AP
"Today is a day of shame for the armed forces," Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum.
"The military generals are celebrating Armed Forces Day after they just killed more than 300 innocent civilians," he said, giving an estimate of the toll since protests first erupted weeks ago.
After presiding over a military parade in the capital Naypyitaw to mark Armed Forces Day, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reiterated a promise to hold elections, without giving any time-frame.
A barricade, set up by protesters demonstrating against the military coup, burning in Mandalay. Facebook/AFP
"Violent acts that affect stability and security in order to make demands are inappropriate."
The latest deaths will add to a toll of 423 people killed in the crackdown that has followed the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, according to a tally kept by an activist group.
