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5 Die in Myanmar Protests as Junta Cracks Down on Online Critics

Reuters

   Myanmar security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protests on
   Saturday killing five people, a protester and media said, as the
   military reinforced its bid to end dissent with arrest warrants for
   online critics and internet blocks.

   Despite the killing of more than 550 people by the security forces
   since the Feb. 1 coup, protesters are coming out every day, often in
   smaller groups in smaller towns, to voice opposition to the
   reimposition of military rule.

   Security forces in the central town of Monywa fired on a crowd killing
   three people, the Myanmar Now news service said, while one man was shot
   and killed in another central town, Bago, and one in Thaton to the
   south, the Bago Weekly Journal online news portal reported.

   "They started firing non-stop with both stun grenade and live rounds,"
   the protester in Monywa, who asked not to be named, told Reuters via a
   messaging app. "People backed off and quickly put up ... barriers, but
   a bullet hit a person in front of me in the head. He died on the spot."

   Police and a spokesperson for the junta did not answer telephone calls
   seeking comment.

   The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said
   earlier on Saturday the security forces had killed 550 people, 46 of
   them children, since the military overthrew an elected government led
   by Aung San Suu Kyi.

   The demonstrations that drew tens of thousands of people in the early
   days of defiance in big cities have largely stopped with opponents of
   the coup adopting "guerrilla rallies" -- small, quick shows of defiance
   before security forces can respond.

   People also gather at night for candlelit vigils.

   The authorities are waging a campaign to control information. They had
   shut down mobile data and on Friday ordered internet providers to cut
   wireless broadband, depriving most customers of access, though some
   messages and pictures were still being posted and shared on social
   media.

   Authorities issued warrants for 18 celebrities, including social media
   influencers and two journalists, under a law against material intended
   to cause a member of the armed forces to mutiny or disregard their
   duty, state media reported late on Friday.

   All of them are known to oppose military rule. The charge can carry a
   prison term of three years.

   Actress Paing Phyoe Thu said she would not be cowed.

   "Whether a warrant has been issued or not, as long as I'm alive I'll
   oppose the military dictatorship who are bullying and killing people.
   The revolution must prevail," she said on Facebook.

   Paing Phyoe Thu regularly attended rallies in the main city of Yangon
   in the weeks after the coup. Her whereabouts were not immediately
   known.

   Silencing the voices?

   State broadcaster MRTV announced the warrants for the 18 with
   screenshots and links to their Facebook profiles.

   While the military has banned platforms like Facebook, it has continued
   to use social media to track critics and promote its message.

   MRTV maintains a YouTube channel and shares links to its broadcasts on
   Twitter, both of which are officially banned.

   The United States condemned the internet shutdown.

   "We hope this won't silence the voices of the people," State Department
   spokesperson Jalina Porter told a briefing.

   The coup has rekindled old wars with autonomy-seeking ethnic minority
   forces in the north and the east.

   Myanmar's oldest insurgent group, the Karen National Union (KNU), has
   seen the first military air strikes on its forces in more than 20
   years, after it announced its support for the pro-democracy movement.

   The KNU said more than 12,000 villagers had fled their homes because of
   the air strikes. It called for an international embargo on arms sales
   to the military.

   "Their inhuman actions against unarmed civilians have caused the death
   of many people including children and students," the group said in a
   statement.

   Media has reported that about 20 people were killed in air strikes in
   KNU territory in recent days, including nearly a dozen at a gold mine
   run by the group.

   The KNU signed a cease-fire with the government in 2012 to end their
   60-year insurgency.

   Fighting has also flared in the north between the army and ethnic
   Kachin insurgents. The turmoil has sent several thousand refugees
   fleeing into Thailand and India.