Tensions high in Myanmar even as demonstrators avoid confrontations

People use their mobile phones to check the connection and Facebook outside an internet shop in Naypyidaw on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

Demonstrators in several areas of Myanmar protesting last month's seizure of power by the military held small, peaceful marches before dawn on Tuesday, avoiding confrontations with security forces who have shot dead scores of their countrymen in the past few days. Still, tensions remained high in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, where casualties have been the highest. There were several unconfirmed reports that police had again fired on demonstrators in the city.

The United Nations said on Monday that at least 138 protesters have been killed in Myanmar since the February 1 military coup. The figure includes 38 killed on Sunday, the majority in the Hlaing Thayer area of Yangon, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. Other credible estimates put the death toll higher. The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 183 people have been killed since the coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "strongly condemns this ongoing violence against peaceful protesters and the continuing violation of the fundamental human rights of the people of Myanmar," Dujarric said.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. Protesters in some areas have recently started to use tactics meant to avoid violent confrontations. On Tuesday, reports on social media said candlelight marches before sunrise were held in Mawlamyaing in Mon State in southeastern Myanmar.

138
No. of protesters killed since the coup as per the UN

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