50 Protesters Killed On Myanmar's 'Armed Forces Disgrace Day'

ILLUSTRATION / Myanmar military and police in the face of anti-coup rallies. (Twitter / @ yoonmay111)

YANGON - Myanmar security forces shot and killed 50 protesters on Saturday, March 27.

The brutal crackdown on dissent comes as ruling junta leaders say the military will protect the people and fight for democracy.

Protesters opposing the February 1 military coup emerged in the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other cities, opposing warnings they could be shot "in the head and back", while the country's generals celebrated Armed Forces Day.

"Today is an embarrassing day for the armed forces," said Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group formed by ousted lawmakers, told an online forum.

"The military generals celebrate Armed Forces Day after they just killed more than 300 innocent civilians," he said, giving a rough estimate of the number of casualties since the first protests erupted several weeks ago.

At least four people were killed when security forces opened fire on a crowd protesting outside a police station on the outskirts of Yangon Dala city in the early hours of Saturday, Myanmar Now reported. At least 10 people were injured, the news portal said.

Three people, including a young man playing on the local U-21 soccer team, were shot and killed during a protest in the city's Insein district, a neighbor told Reuters.

Thirteen people have died in various incidents in Mandalay, Myanmar Now said. Deaths were also reported from Sagaing region near Mandalay, the city of Lashio in the east, in the Bago region, near Yangon, and elsewhere, he said.

Myanmar Now says a total of at least 50 people died on Saturday. Reuters was unable to independently verify the death toll.

A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

After leading a military parade in the capital Naypyitaw to mark Armed Forces Day, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reiterated his promise to hold elections, without providing any timeframe.

"The army is trying to join hands with the entire nation to maintain democracy," the general said in a live broadcast on state television, adding that the authorities were also trying to protect the people and restore peace across the country.

"Actions of violence that affect stability and security to make inappropriate demands."

The number of people killed in the chaos since the coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi is now nearly 380, based on Thursday's death toll and a tally carried out by an activist group.

Head shot

In an ominous warning late on Friday, state television said protesters were "in danger of being shot in the head and back". The warning did not specifically say that security forces had been given shoot-to-kill orders but the junta had previously tried to show that some of the fatal shelling had come from within the crowd.

But it shows the military's determination to prevent any disturbance around Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the start of resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945 orchestrated by Suu Kyi's father, the military's founder.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar's most popular civilian politician, remains detained at an undisclosed location. Many other figures in his party were also detained.

In a week as international pressure on the junta escalated with new US and European sanctions, Russia's deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin attended the march in Naypyitaw, after meeting with senior junta leaders the day before.

"Russia is a true friend," said Min Aung Hlaing. There was no sign of another diplomat at the event, which is usually attended by dozens of officials from abroad.

Support from Russia and China, which have also refrained from criticism, is important to the junta because they are permanent members of the UN Security Council and can block potential UN action.

Protesters have taken to the streets nearly every day since the coup thwarted Myanmar's slow transition to democracy.

As of Friday night, the activist group of the Political Prisoners' Assistance Association (AAPP) counted at least 328 protesters who had died in the weeks of rioting.

Its data showed that about a quarter of them died from gunfire to the head, raising suspicions that they were the target of murder.

Myanmar's ethnic armed faction will not stand by and do nothing if junta forces continue to kill protesters, said the leader of one of the main armed groups.

"Myanmar Armed Forces Day is not armed forces day, it is more like the day they kill people," General Yawd Serk, chairman of the Shan State Restoration Council / Army of Southern Shan State, told Reuters.

"This is not to protect democracy either, it's their way of undermining democracy ... If they keep shooting at protesters and bullying people, I think all ethnic groups will not just stand by and stand by."