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Myanmar Security Forces Fire on Protesters, Killing Several
Myanmar security forces opened fire on protesters against military rule again on Wednesday. The shooting came a day after calls for restraint and offers to solve the crisis from neighboring countries.
The Associated Press reported at least eight people were killed Wednesday including a 14-year-old boy. The United Nations' Human Rights Office said security forces also killed at least 18 protesters last Sunday. And Reuters has reported that at least 40 people have been killed since February 1 when the military seized control and removed Myanmar's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Witnesses told Reuters that security forces used real bullets with little warning in several towns and cities. "It's horrific, it's a massacre. No words can describe the situation and our feelings," youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi told the news agency.
A spokesman for the military rulers did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. Myanmar is a majority Buddhist country with a small Christian community.
Security forces in Yangon, the country's main city, detained about 300 protesters, the Myanmar Now news agency reported. Video posted on social media showed lines of young men with their hands on their heads. It shows them getting into army trucks as police and soldiers stand guard.
One video taken from a security camera showed police beating members of an ambulance crew. Police can be seen kicking the three crew members and hitting them with their guns.
In the central town of Myingyan, social media reported the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy. In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, police and soldiers chased around 1,000 teachers and students with tear gas as gun shots could be heard.
The violence came a day after foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged restraint. Myanmar is an ASEAN member. The Southeast Asian neighbors, however, did not unite behind a call for the release of Suu Kyi and a return to democracy.
The Myanmar military claimed that its action came after reports of fraud in the November 8 election were ignored. Suu Kyi's party had won a large majority and the election commission said the vote was fair.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
