Myanmar military kills at least 82 in single day, death toll climbs past 700: AAPP

At least 701 protesters and bystanders have been killed by Myanmar security forces since the army’s takeover on February 1, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported. According to Anadolu Agency, the AAPP said that there were new casualties from areas where security forces intervened with civilians. Nearly 82 people were killed in Bago and additional 656 arrest warrants were issued for demonstrators who are against the coup.

Bago is about 100 kilometres northeast of Yangon. Myanmar Now reported the bodies of people killed by the army had been collected and dumped on the grounds of a Buddhist pagoda. The attack on Bago was also the third in the past week involving the massive use of force to try to crush the persistent opposition to the ruling junta. 

The security forces are accused of using heavy weapons in their attacks, including rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. Most protests in the cities and town in Myanmar are carried out by non-violent demonstrators who consider themselves part of a civil disobedience movement. However, as the military and police escalated the use of lethal force, a hardcore faction of protesters armed themselves with homemade weapons such as firebombs in the name of self-defence. 

19 protesters sentenced to death 

Meanwhile, last week the  Myanmar military sentenced at least 19 people to death in the Southeast Asian country for killing an associate of an army captain, said a junta-owned Myawaddy TV station, marking the first such sentences since the coup on February 1 and continued crackdown on protesters. The report further said that the killing took place on March 27 in the North Okkalapa district of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. Reportedly, Martial law has also been declared in the district that allows the courts-martial to pronounce the sentences. 

Myanmar military that overthrew the civilian elected government, said that a protest campaign against its rule was dwindling because people ultimately wanted peace. The junta also said that it would hold elections within two years which is also the first time frame it has given for a return to democracy. The remarks regarding elections came as Myanmar’s own ambassador to the United Nations (UN) pressed on April 9 for a no-fly zone along with sanctions to mounting global pressure on the junta to restore democracy in the country which is rocked with unrest for over two months. 

(Image: PTI)