Buddhist monks join an anti-coup march

A group of Buddhist monks joined an anti-coup protest on Wednesday in Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city.

They took to the streets near their monastery carrying a banner that read "demonstrating peacefully".

The monks joined around a thousand mainly young demonstrators protesting against the new military government.

The march ended before security forces could confront them.

Figures from the broadcaster the Democratic Voice of Burma, released on Tuesday, put deaths in the broader Mandalay region at 15, since protests began.

Myanmar has been roiled by protests and other acts of civil disobedience since the February 1 coup that toppled elected leader Suu Kyi's government just as it was to start its second term.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.

Security forces have responded with mass arrests and at times lethal force.

Despite the increasingly violent tactics of security forces, protests continued Wednesday in cities and towns across the country, including Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Dawei and Myitkyina.