Three people have now been killed by security forces defending the military’s takeover, but the deaths are only adding fuel to the pro-democracy movement’s fire.
In one of the biggest days of Myanmar’s anti-coup protests to date, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of the Southeast Asian nation’s largest cities and towns on Monday. The biggest protests were again in the capital, Naypyidaw, and Myanmar’s most populous city and former capital, Yangon. The massive show of people power has yielded images that have gone viral on social media around the world, as peaceful demonstrators defied a foreboding warning from the military junta that seized power early this month. The junta’s rulers used state-run television to warn protesters directly that they were risking death, claiming the demonstrators were “now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life.” So far three pro-democracy because of police actions — Mya Thwet Kaing died on Friday after being shot in the head by police on February 9, just days before her 20th birthday, and two others were killed on Saturday.
