Conflicts & War

Anti-coup protesters injured as Myanmar police use force

(Update 1: Adds details of injuries, alters lead, headline, minor edits)

Yangon, Myanmar, Feb 9 (efe-epa).- Myanmar police on Tuesday injured several anti-coup protesters with rubber bullets, water cannon and allegedly live ammunition as tens of thousands defied a ban on public assembly to demonstrate last week’s military coup.

Kyi Toe, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy Party of deposed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, claimed live ammunition was used against protesters in the administrative capital of Naypyidaw.

He added that seven were injured overall by police use of rubber bullets, water cannon and allegedly live bullets and that three needed hospital treatment.

A man in his 30s and a 19-year-old woman were in critical condition, local news outlet Myanmar Now reported.

Protesters came out to the streets of Myanmar on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive day despite restrictions placed on townships of Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing region and Kayah state on Monday night. These include bans on protests and the assembly of more than four people in public areas, as well as an 8pm to 4am curfew.

In Naypyitaw on Tuesday morning, police fired water cannons at chanting peaceful protesters for the second day in a row.

In the most populous city of Yangon, thousands of demonstrators marched to city hall, holding up the three-finger salute and pictures of Suu Kyi as they chanted slogans, according to witness videos on social media.

The chants ranged from calling for the release of the detained Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, calling for a general strike, and shouting against the military.

Other protests were taking place in Bago, northeast of Yangon, and in central Mandalay, the country’s second-most populous city.

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