YANGON, KOMPAS.com – The Myanmar military asked the family to pay 85 US dollars (Rp 1.2 million) to take the bodies of relatives killed by security forces, in a bloody crackdown on Friday (9/4/2021).
“At least 82 people died Friday in Bago, 90 kilometers (56 miles) northeast of Yangon. The incident occurred after the city was “raided” by military security forces, “the advocacy group Association of Assistance for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said. CNN.
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The AAPP reports more than 700 people have been killed since the military toppled Myanmar’s elected government in a February 1 coup.
Since then, the junta’s security forces made up of police, army and elite counter-insurgency forces have carried out a systematic crackdown on unarmed and peaceful protesters. They detained about 3,000 people and forced the activists into hiding.
The AAPP also said the Myanmar military opened fire on anti-coup protesters in the city of Bago on Friday, using assault rifles, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and hand grenades.
Many residents have fled to nearby villages since Friday’s raids. The internet has been cut off in the area since that day with security forces searching the neighborhood.
“I live on the main road. Security forces often come and go,” an eyewitness who lived in Bago town, who could not be named for security purposes, told CNN on Sunday (11/4/2021).
According to him, bodies had piled up in the morgue after the shooting. “Because of the threat, we had to move to a house in a remote village nearby,”
The military is now demanding the family pay 120,000 Myanmar kyats (US $ 85) to retrieve the remains of a relative who died last week, according to a post on Facebook from the Bago University Students Union.
The Burma Radio Free Asia service confirmed a report from the Bago University Student Union. CNN has not independently verified the report and has reached out to the military for comment.
A police vehicle is parked on a road in the city of South Okkalapa to block a gathering of anti-coup protesters in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday (9/4/2021).
Myanmar’s military claims its troops were attacked by protesters in Bago Friday, according to the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.
It was also reported that security forces were attacked by rioters while removing roadblocks reinforced by rioters on the streets of Bago at the time.
The junta also claimed rioters used handmade weapons, fireballs, arrows, shields and handmade grenades, to attack security forces.
The newspaper said a protester was killed in the incident Friday (9/4/2021). “Evidence of seized grenades and ammunition indicates small arms were used,” the report added.
Also read: Burmese authorities fire grenades, killing 80 demonstrators
Counterattack
The United States Embassy in Myanmar called for an end to violence on Sunday (11/4/2021).
“We mourn the senseless loss of life in Bago and across countries where regime forces have reportedly used weapons of war against civilians,” the embassy said in a tweet on its official Twitter account.
“The regime has the capability to resolve crises and needs to start by ending violence and attacks,” he added.
The NGO Human Rights Watch published a letter on Thursday urging the European Union to “fully implement” sanctions against the military and “adopt additional sanctions immediately.”
“The people of Myanmar have fought military bullets, but they bravely continue their struggle, unceasingly,” the letter said.
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But the military commander, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, defending the coup over the weekend. They claimed the junta “did not seize power, but took steps to strengthen a multiparty democratic system,” according to Global New Light of Myanmar.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun previously told CNN that the generals are only “guarding” the country while they investigate “election fraud, and street bloodshed is the fault of the rioting protesters.”
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