The protesters were shot and killed by the military government, according to the UN. At least 20 people were wounded.<\/b>
\nMyanmar\u2019s military government intensified its crackdown on the country\u2019s pro-democracy protest movement on Sunday, firing at demonstrators gathered in Myanmar\u2019s largest cities, and killing at least 18 people, according to the United Nations. For nearly a month, a growing coalition of protesters has demanded the end of military rule in Myanmar, following a coup that led to the arrest of the nation\u2019s civilian leaders on February 1. Demonstrations have taken place continuously across the country, taking the form of student protests, the halting of public transportation, and work stoppages that threaten to derail Myanmar\u2019s economy. These protests culminated in a nationwide strike last Monday, February 22, that millions participated in, according to the New York Times, generally known as the \u201c22222 uprising.\u201d As Vox\u2019s Jen Kirby explained, the strike saw \u201cprotesters take to the streets of Myanmar\u2019s cities; stores, banks, and fast food chains shut down in solidarity. Protesters chose the date because it echoes the August 8, 1988 (8\/8\/88) protests against military rule, which the military suppressed in a bloody crackdown.\u201d Ahead of that strike, the military government broadcast a warning that seemed to reference the 1988 crackdown, saying, \u201cProtesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life.\u201d Sunday, the military showed its words were not an empty threat. In Yangon, a protester named Yan told the Washington Post, \u201cFirst they shot with real bullets, then tear gas. Later they used rubber bullets,\u201d and stressed that the military gave only a whistle as a warning before shooting into the crowd. Yan said he personally saw at least six people shot, including a protester who was shot in the head and died. In Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, protester and doctor U Si Thu told the New York Times he was with a group of about 50 protesters who found themselves being shot at by police and military officials. At least three people in his group were shot, Si Thu said, including a man wearing a motorcycle helmet who medical professionals were unable to save. \u201cI don\u2019t know where the bullet came from, but the man was shot in the forehead and went down,\u201d Si Thu said, telling the Times that after that man was shot, army vehicles blocked the street his group was on, and fired again, hitting the other two people who were wounded. Similar narratives have emerged throughout Myanmar, leading to over 30 protesters being wounded, according to the United Nations; a doctor told the Times the number of wounded may actually be far higher, saying that at least 50 people were wounded in his city, Dawei, alone. Protesters are demanding a civilian government Broadly, the protesters are demanding that the government they elected last year be restored. Since 2011, Myanmar has had a joint military-civilian government, led on the civilian side by Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party \u2014 the National League for Democracy \u2014 often dominated elections, including the one that led to the coup. In November 2020, the National League for Democracy won 83 percent of the seats in parliament, a result that, as Vox\u2019s Alex Ward noted, \u201cseemingly gave them a mandate to pursue constitutional reforms\u201d that the military had long opposed \u2014 namely, limited the military\u2019s role in the government. Ward explains: And the military did indeed launch a coup. While experts have debated exactly why it did so, the result has been clear: Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint (along with dozens of other politicians, officials, and activists) have been detained and face both trial and imprisonment, and millions have demanded that the military give them what they voted for \u2014 a civilian government led by the National League for Democracy. The military government has responded to these demands by working to curtail communication, including by blocking internet access, and by detaining protesters; according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights organization based in Thailand, as of February 28, at least 1,132 people have been arrested, charged, or sentenced in relation to the coup since it began. Despite these arrests \u2014 and shootings like those seen on Sunday \u2014 the pro-democracy demonstrations continue, proof that, as Kirby has written, \u201cthe Myanmar coup is not going as planned.\u201d There is some concern violence could escalate, as it did in 1988. Protests that year came to an end after about 3,000 people were killed, another 3,000 were imprisoned, and roughly 10,000 were forced to flee the country, according to NPR. UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres \u201cstrongly condemned\u201d Sunday\u2019s violence, according to his spokesperson, and called on the world \u201cto come together and send a clear signal to the military that it must respect the will of the people of Myanmar as expressed through the election and stop the repression.\u201d Guterres\u2019 statement comes after Myanmar\u2019s ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, condemned the military government at the UN on Friday, saying its actions are \u201cnot acceptable in this modern world,\u201d and requesting the \u201cstrongest possible action from the international community\u201d to end military rule. The ambassador was fired by the government after his remarks, but the UN does not recognize the coup as legitimate, and will reportedly continue to recognize the dignitary as his country\u2019s representative. A number of foreign governments have signaled solidarity with the protesters. \u201cWe stand with the people of Burma,\u201d US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of the February 22 strike. The United States has condemned the actions of the military, and imposed sanctions on military leaders, cutting them off from about $1 billion in assets. But as former US ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell told the BBC recently, the US doesn\u2019t \u201chave a whole lot of leverage\u201d over the military government. \u201cThe key is our allies,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cThat\u2019s a very difficult path, because some of our allies \u2014 Japan, India, Korea \u2014 have a lot of investment. They will be worried about growing Chinese influence there.\u201d China, Myanmar\u2019s neighbor to the northeast, has largely taken a hands-off approach thus far, with a spokesperson for its foreign ministry saying on February 22, \u201cWe hope that all parties will properly handle their differences under the Constitution and legal framework to maintain political and social stability.\u201d And many of Myanmar\u2019s other neighbors have advocated for a similar approach. ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, responded to the coup with a call for \u201cdialogue, reconciliation and the return to normalcy.\u201d Member nations Malaysia and Indonesia released a separate statement saying they \u201ctake the political situation in Myanmar seriously,\u201d and have called for a special session to discuss the situation, but thus far no meeting has taken place. Despite all this, it appears protests will continue. Yan, the protester in Yangon, told the Post that the shootings by security forces have only made protesters \u201cangrier.\u201d However, the military government has shown no signs it is willing to consider the changes Yan and his fellow protesters are calling for.<\/p>\n