At least two people were hit by gunfire when military troops opened fire on demonstrators on Friday afternoon in Kyauktada Township in central Rangoon, according to a witness, who said she narrowly escaped by hiding under a vehicle.
She said the demonstrators were boxed in between Anawrahta Road and Maha Bandoola Road. Dozens of protesters were arrested, bound and beaten. The troops pursued fleeing people into buildings, she said, singling out people with cameras.
If they were arrested, the troops beat them while shouting, “Is it you who sends those pictures out?”
A Japanese cameraman was shot and killed on Thursday during a demonstration near Sule Pagoda. He appeared to have been shot point blank by a soldier while he was lying face up on the street.
Representatives who were elected in the 1990 elections that were nullified by the junta set out on a demonstration march in Rangoon around noon Friday, on the third day of public protests in which military authorities have killed at least nine people. The number of injured is unknown, but it numbers in the hundreds.
Australian Ambassador Bob Davis told CNN that he believed the true death toll ran into "multiples" of the official figure.
In Rangoon, security forces and military soldiers began moving troops and equipment into place in during the early morning hours on Friday.
About 10 fire trucks took up positions around Rangoon’s City Hall, and about 12 empty military trucks were positioned at Bandoola Park, according to witnesses.
A main road leading to Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon was blocked with barbed wire.
Authorities also positioned security forces at Kandawgyi Park and the Livestock and Fisheries office in Kyeemyindaing Township, witnesses said.
Central Rangoon was the scene of repeated gunfire on Thursday as security forces tried to disperse tens of thousands of people calling for democracy and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the figurehead of the pro-democracy movement. Hundreds of people were arrested and taken away to unknown locations.
Meanwhile, overnight in Mandalay military troops raided Pauk Myaing Monastery around 7:30 p.m. while about 50 monks were praying in front of a Buddha statue, said sources close to the monastery.
The monks were knelling in prayer when attacked, beaten with batons and kicked with boots before being taken away by troops. The source said numerous monks were bleeding from the beatings. Most of the monks were arrested, but a few managed to escape.
When news of the raid spread, monks at other local monasteries started collecting weapons such as knives, spears and slingshots in an effort to defend themselves from raiding troops, the source said.
The monks said they will defend themselves if security forces attack their monasteries, and they urged the public to join them.
On Thursday, Burma’s Karen National Union issued a call for all ethnic ceasefire groups to rise up against the Burmese regime in solidarity with the people of Rangoon and Mandalay.
The Shan State Army-South, whose forces are defending areas of southeastern Burma against the Burmese army, also voiced its support for monks and other protesters resisting the regime's efforts to stamp out the rising opposition to its rule.
The KNU, in a statement issued on Thursday from its headquarters in Kawthoole, called on government troops to turn their guns on the ruling generals.
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[Photo: Reuters] |
If they were arrested, the troops beat them while shouting, “Is it you who sends those pictures out?”
A Japanese cameraman was shot and killed on Thursday during a demonstration near Sule Pagoda. He appeared to have been shot point blank by a soldier while he was lying face up on the street.
Representatives who were elected in the 1990 elections that were nullified by the junta set out on a demonstration march in Rangoon around noon Friday, on the third day of public protests in which military authorities have killed at least nine people. The number of injured is unknown, but it numbers in the hundreds.
Australian Ambassador Bob Davis told CNN that he believed the true death toll ran into "multiples" of the official figure.
In Rangoon, security forces and military soldiers began moving troops and equipment into place in during the early morning hours on Friday.
About 10 fire trucks took up positions around Rangoon’s City Hall, and about 12 empty military trucks were positioned at Bandoola Park, according to witnesses.
A main road leading to Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon was blocked with barbed wire.
Authorities also positioned security forces at Kandawgyi Park and the Livestock and Fisheries office in Kyeemyindaing Township, witnesses said.
Central Rangoon was the scene of repeated gunfire on Thursday as security forces tried to disperse tens of thousands of people calling for democracy and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the figurehead of the pro-democracy movement. Hundreds of people were arrested and taken away to unknown locations.
Meanwhile, overnight in Mandalay military troops raided Pauk Myaing Monastery around 7:30 p.m. while about 50 monks were praying in front of a Buddha statue, said sources close to the monastery.
The monks were knelling in prayer when attacked, beaten with batons and kicked with boots before being taken away by troops. The source said numerous monks were bleeding from the beatings. Most of the monks were arrested, but a few managed to escape.
When news of the raid spread, monks at other local monasteries started collecting weapons such as knives, spears and slingshots in an effort to defend themselves from raiding troops, the source said.
The monks said they will defend themselves if security forces attack their monasteries, and they urged the public to join them.
On Thursday, Burma’s Karen National Union issued a call for all ethnic ceasefire groups to rise up against the Burmese regime in solidarity with the people of Rangoon and Mandalay.
The Shan State Army-South, whose forces are defending areas of southeastern Burma against the Burmese army, also voiced its support for monks and other protesters resisting the regime's efforts to stamp out the rising opposition to its rule.
The KNU, in a statement issued on Thursday from its headquarters in Kawthoole, called on government troops to turn their guns on the ruling generals.
