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Myanmar Security Forces Kill 11 Protesters in Kalay

VOA Burmese Service

   Myanmar security forces killed at least 11 civilians and wounded at
   least 10 others Wednesday when they fired on government protesters in
   the northwestern town of Kalay, according to reports received by VOA's
   Burmese service.

   One protest organizer told the service that troops tasked with removing
   barricades set up by the protesters opened fire indiscriminately on the
   demonstrators, who are demanding that Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian
   government be returned to power.

   The organizer said an undetermined number of protesters, some armed
   with homemade weapons, were arrested in the town known for fiercely
   resisting government forces.

   Video of the pre-dawn attack included the sounds of gunfire and grenade
   explosions. Social media posts said rocket-propelled grenades were
   fired.

   A young man who lives in Kalay and who escaped arrest told VOA the
   security forces fired at least 20 rocket-propelled grenades to destroy
   the barricades and fired bullets at the protesters.
   FILE - Pallbearers carry the coffin of a protester who was shot dead on
   March 28 amid a crackdown by security forces on demonstrations against
   the military coup, during the funeral in Kale, March 29, 2021, in this
   picture from Facebook.

   Protesters in Kalay, who had previously armed themselves with homemade
   hunting rifles and established neighborhood strongholds, inflicted
   casualties on security forces during a March 28 assault on the town and
   nearby villages, according to the Myanmar Now news service.

   The demonstrators, who have organized what they call the Kalay Civil
   Army, inflicted more casualties on junta forces in the following days,
   the online news site reported.

   The March 28 attack occurred one day after government troops killed
   more than 110 civilians throughout the Southeast Asian country, the
   highest one-day death toll since the February 1 military coup that
   ousted the democratically elected government.

   Protests around the country

   Regular anti-government protests continued in other cities and towns
   Wednesday, including in Bago, northeast of Yangon, where a resident
   confirmed to VOA that government forces killed two men and injured five
   others.

   One person was killed in a protest crackdown in Monywa, the capital of
   the Sagaing region, and another was killed in the town of Nyaung Shwe