Thousands of people took to the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city in defiance of a night curfew on Monday, chanting in anger after security forces …
Thousands of people took to the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city in defiance of a night curfew on Monday, chanting in anger after security forces besieged hundreds of young anti-coup protesters in one neighbourhood. Western embassies appealed to the ruling military junta to allow the protesters to leave Sanchaung, where they were cornered at the end of another day of bloodshed in Myanmar in which at least three protesters were killed elsewhere in the country. “Free the students in Sanchaung,” people chanted in the streets in districts across the former capital, where daily protests have taken place for more than a month against the Feb.1 coup which overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In some areas, police used stun grenades and fired shots to try to disperse protesters, witnesses said. Live video from Sanchaung on social media showed protesters running between the houses as stun grenades detonated. “Almost 200 young protesters are still blocked by the police and soldiers there. Local and international community needs to help them now! Please,” one protest leader, Maung Saungkha, said on Twitter. The US Embassy said in a statement: “We call on those security forces to withdraw and allow people to go home safely.” The United Nations office in Myanmar and the British Embassy made a similar appeal. In Geneva, the UN human rights office voiced deep concern about the fate of the protesters trapped in Sanchaung. Rights chief Michelle Bachelet said they should be allowed to leave safely and without reprisals.
