Myanmar junta cracks down on crowds defying protest ban

IslamNEWS – Police cracked down on demonstrators opposing Myanmar’s military coup, firing warning shots and shooting water cannons to disperse crowds that took to the streets again Tuesday in defiance of rules making protests illegal.

Reports of many injured demonstrators drew strong concern from the U.N.’s office in Myanmar.

“According to reports from Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and other cities, numerous demonstrators have been injured, some of them seriously, by security forces in connection with the current protests across the country,” the U.N. said.

“The use of disproportionate force against demonstrators is unacceptable,” said Ola Almgren, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Myanmar.

The protesters are demanding that power be restored to the deposed civilian government and are seeking freedom for Suu Kyi and other governing party members detained since the military took over and blocked the new session of Parliament from convening on Feb. 1.

Source: AP