A man stands behind a barricade during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

 

(Reuters) - Myanmar security forces killed 114 people, including some children, in a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on Saturday, the bloodiest day of violence since last month's military coup, news reports and witnesses said.

 

The killings, which took place on Armed Forces Day, drew strong renewed criticism from Western countries. British Ambassador Dan Chugg said the security forces had "disgraced themselves" and the U.S. envoy called the violence horrifying.

 

Military jets also launched air strikes on a village in territory controlled by an armed group from the Karen ethnic minority and at least two people were killed, a civil society group said.

 

Earlier, the Karen National Union said it had overrun an army post near the Thai border, killing 10 people - including a lieutenant colonel - and losing one of its own fighters as tensions with the military surged after years of relative peace.

 

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

 

Demonstrators turned out on Saturday in Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, as they have done almost daily since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

The Myanmar Now news portal said 114 people were killed across the country in crackdowns on the protests.

 

At least 40 people, including a 13-year-old girl, were killed in Mandalay, and at least 27 people were killed in Yangon, Myanmar Now said. A boy as young as five was earlier reported among the dead in Mandalay but there were conflicting reports later that he may have survived. Another 13-year-old was among the dead in the central Sagaing region.

 

"Today is a day of shame for the armed forces," Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum.

 

A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment on the killings by security forces, the air strikes or the insurgent attack on its post.

 

"They are killing us like birds or chickens, even in our homes," said Thu Ya Zaw in the central town of Myingyan, where at least two protesters were killed. "We will keep protesting regardless... We must fight until the junta falls."

 

The deaths on Saturday would take the number of civilians reported killed since the coup to over 440.

 

'TERROR AND DISHONOUR'

 

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Vajda said on social media: "This bloodshed is horrifying," adding "Myanmar’s people have spoken clearly: they do not want to live under military rule".

 

British foreign minister Dominic Raab said the killing of unarmed civilians and children marked a new low, while the EU delegation to Myanmar said Saturday would "forever stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour."

 

News reports said there were deaths in Sagaing, Lashio in the east, in the Bago region, near Yangon, and elsewhere. A one-year-old baby was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet.

 

Min Aung Hlaing, speaking at the parade in the capital Naypyitaw, reiterated a promise to hold elections, without giving any time-frame.

 

"The army seeks to join hands with the entire nation to safeguard democracy," he said in a live broadcast on state television. "Violent acts that affect stability and security in order to make demands are inappropriate."

 

The military has said it took power because November elections won by Suu Kyi's party were fraudulent, an assertion dismissed by the country's election commission. Suu Kyi remains in detention at an undisclosed location and many other figures in her party are also in custody.

 

RUSSIA 'A TRUE FRIEND'

 

New U.S. and European sanctions this week increased external pressure on the junta, but the condemnation is not universal.

 

Russia's deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin attended the parade in Naypyitaw, having met senior junta leaders a day earlier.

 

"Russia is a true friend," Min Aung Hlaing said.

 

Diplomats said eight countries - Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand - sent representatives, but Russia was the only one to send a minister to the parade on Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the start of the resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945.

 

Support from Russia and China, which has also refrained from criticism, is important for the junta as those two countries are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and can block potential U.N. actions.

 

In a warning on Friday evening, state television said protesters were "in danger of getting shot to the head and back". It did not specifically say security forces had been given shoot-to-kill orders and the junta has previously suggested some fatal shootings have come from within the crowds.

 

Gunshots hit the U.S. cultural centre in Yangon on Saturday, but nobody was hurt and the incident was being investigated, U.S. Embassy spokesperson Aryani Manring said.

 

Author and historian Thant Myint-U wrote on Twitter: "Even after weeks of appalling violence, today's killing of civilians is shocking both in nature and scale, with again children amongst the dead, and deserves the world's concerted attention and help."

 

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Michael Perry and Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-28

 

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5 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Myanmar security forces killed 114 people, including some children

A total disgrace to mankind !

5 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

and they are doing the exact opposite

5 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Military jets also launched air strikes on a village in territory controlled by an armed group from the Karen ethnic minority and at least two people were killed, a civil society group said.

 

 

Disgraceful & vicious.

 

 

I wonder if the Authorities here will condone this atrocity.......

Heart breaking news, just shows the disgusting lengths a handful of generals will go to, to make sure they can keep raking in the money, no care about people, we will kill anybody who tries to oppose us...damned sickening/ tragic.

Hope the two cigarette smoking kids don't pick up arms again and start a civil war. Could be another Vietnam War in the making. 

Matthew Tostevin

 

@TostevinM

 

While some army chiefs condemn the killing of unarmed people by Myanmar's army, some countries attended yesterday's Army Day celebrations: Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

39 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Myanmar security forces killed 114 people, including some children,

Sounds paradoxical..In the most religious Buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks in the population (88%)????

And all the time ASEAN - including THailand - sit on their fat ar$es and do nothing - a total travesty

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Diplomats said eight countries - Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand - sent representatives,

All of these countries should hang their heads in shame, but they won't because they have none.

I don't know what is worst? The slaughter of innocent people, the disgraceful support from China and Russia or the rest of the world doing nothing about it. The Burmese scum military have watched Thailand brutalise protesters with impunity and with partners in crime who will veto UN action, they probably feel untouchable. I have friends stuck in Yangon who tel me the situation is horrendous. This is a very sad time for Myanmar and peoples basic rights.

1 hour ago, petermik said:

I wonder if the Authorities here will condone this atrocity.......

If push comes to shove the 'Authorities' here would do exactly the same; history shows that !

1 hour ago, petermik said:

I wonder if the Authorities here will condone this atrocity.......

They are sending them rice

After Syria nothing surprises me anymore about how governments will not act when democracy is trashed. 

A post containing a black background with white text has been removed.

So what's to be done?  Thailand and Russia support the Myanmar military, China no doubt as well.  The other Asean countries either show support by sending diplomats or make statements about the bad situation, BUT will never do anything - that's Asean for you.

 

The 'West' condemn and apply sanctions, and the Burmese military just laugh at these sanctions, because they always fail.....

 

Who will act to help the people in Myanmar?

Seeing one of Vlad the poisoner’s cronies at the parade is a bad sign, this could turn very ugly, sad.

horrible

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

Cynicism at it's best .

Everybody knows that the opposite is true . He is a liar and a killer and all he worries about is his own profit that he makes on the back of the hard working burmese population .

Shame on him .

And on Putin and Xi ... a fine trio they make , the infernal trio .

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

Who will act to help the people in Myanmar?

Nobody will .

5 hours ago, petermik said:

I wonder if the Authorities here will condone this atrocity.......

I read that a Thai government representative was a guest at the military parade for Armed Forces Day.

17 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Nobody will .

Even if the UN propose positive action it will be vetoed by the usual members. But, at least they should try.

How low some people will stoop to gain Power.

And all so they can Rape the Country of its riches.

All this Bloodshed and Misery fully condoned by Thailand who sent a " Representative " to the Armed Forces  Day celebrations.

 

 

A new low .

What people can do to other people for the sake of money and power is hard to believe . But true .

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56547381

 

The US has said that it is "horrified" by the killing of scores of anti-coup protesters in Myanmar on Saturday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the military of "a reign of terror" that was "sacrificing the lives of the people to serve the few".

The defence chiefs of a dozen nations, including the UK, on Sunday issued a rare joint statement condemning the military's violent actions.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply shocked" at the violence and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called it a "new low".

6 hours ago, JoePai said:

And all the time ASEAN - including THailand - sit on their fat ar$es and do nothing - a total travesty

Think you will find Thailand is more worried about migrant refugees having covid than helping the Myanmar people. "Welcome to Thailand - here's a nice barbed wired area."

6 hours ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

I don't know what is worst? The slaughter of innocent people, the disgraceful support from China and Russia or the rest of the world doing nothing about it. The Burmese scum military have watched Thailand brutalise protesters with impunity and with partners in crime who will veto UN action, they probably feel untouchable. I have friends stuck in Yangon who tel me the situation is horrendous. This is a very sad time for Myanmar and peoples basic rights.

The situation is of course appalling.  That said, there is very little that anyone can do to help.  Sanctions are just virtue signaling and posturing (they don’t work, certainly not if China/Russia are not supporting plus sanctions hurt the average citizen far more than the higher up’s).  If the West and China/Russia get involved militarily then you can be sure the body count will rise fast.  Unfortunately, the people of Burma are in their own.

I came to this thread because I thought the title '...kill over 100...' might be a misprint. Sadly, it wasn't. How can these 'Generals' do this to their own people and kill them as an enemy in a war.

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

 

 

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

 

 Absolute BS!!!!

59 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

How can these 'Generals' do this to their own people and kill them as an enemy in a war.

 

More to the point, how can the troops on the ground open fire on their own people. Surely by now there must be more of them close to mutiny or at least mass desertion.