Myanmar: at least 10 dead, hundreds arrested as police break up anti-coup protests in major cities News
Myanmar: at least 10 dead, hundreds arrested as police break up anti-coup protests in major cities

JURIST EXCLUSIVE – At least 10 people were killed, scores injured and hundreds arrested Wednesday morning in Myanmar as police and soldiers used live-fire rounds, tear gas and smoke grenades to break up multiple pro-democracy protests against the February 1 military coup.  In Mandalay two protesters were killed when police dispersed a student strike there; students had gathered behind barricades with shields and were attacked by police and snipers. The students threw bricks and other objects in response. One of the students killed was a 19-year old girl.

In Yangon, a large protest by Yangon University students was violently dispersed and some 200 protesters were arrested, including nine law students, according to other law students reporting for JURIST in Yangon. Protesters were also killed by police in  Maymyo, Myigyan, and Monwya, where 7 people died. Law student correspondents for JURIST in Mandalay additionally reported heightened police and military activity in residential neighborhoods, with large numbers of soldiers in military trucks on the streets.

The military and police crackdowns come just as the United Kingdom is reported to have called for a meeting of the UN Security Council to consider the deteriorating situation in Myanmar.

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