Thousands of anti-coup protesters have again returned to the streets of Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw (Wednesday), following the most violent day yet in demonstrations on Tuesday.
For several days now, thousands of people have been demonstrating across the southeast Asian country against a coup that truncated a tentative transition to democracy under elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In Naypyidaw, hundreds of government workers marched in support of a civil disobedience campaign that has been joined by doctors, monks, teachers and railway workers, among others.
A doctor said one protester was expected to die from a gunshot wound to the head in Tuesday’s protests. She was wounded when police fired guns, mostly in the air, to clear protesters in the capital. Three other people were being treated for wounds from suspected rubber bullets, doctors said.
Protesters were also injured in Mandalay and other cities, where security forces used water cannon as well. State media reported injuries to police during their attempts to disperse protesters, who were accused of throwing stones and bricks.
The US State Department said it was reviewing assistance to Myanmar to ensure those responsible for the coup face “significant consequences”.
It called on the Myanmar military to rescind the coup and release Ms. Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
The United Nations called on Myanmar’s security forces to respect people’s right to protest peacefully, saying the use of “disproportionate force” was “unacceptable”.
A recent Reuters report describes the current protests as the largest in Myanmar for more than a decade, reviving memories of almost half a century of direct army rule and spasms of bloody uprisings until the military began a process of withdrawing from civilian politics in 2011.