18th March 2021
Malaysia issued a formal statement today which, by ASEAN standards is as hard-hitting as it gets.
Western governments chipped in with their condemnation of the coup.
The Military are losing support amongst the monks. This is unusual in that the monks are joining other groups to express support.
In general, the monks are on the side of stability and support the military, but for them to join the protestors is a major shift in support.
There are clips on social media showing the police, under the supervision of the army, strangling a man to death with a rope. The sheer affrontery of the authorities is unbelievable, committing murder in public, aware that it will be disseminated internationally and not caring. As long as it is seen domestically and fits in with their strategy of terrorising the public then it doesn’t matter what the International community think or say.
The clampdown on the media continues as more and more outlets are closed down and reporters arrested.
Two Myanmar journalists working for the BBC and Mizzima News were arrested by the military regime Mar.19, raising the number of detained reporters to 18 as of Mar.19.
Ko Aung Thura, a local correspondent for the BBC, and Ko Than Htike Aung from Mizzima News were taken away by plainclothes police in Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s capital, on Friday.
The men were arrested in front of the Dekkhinathiri District Court while covering the court hearing of detained NLD patron U Win Htein.
The military have charged the Irrawaddy with breaches of regulations (whatever they are, they can change according to the whims of the troops on the ground).
The locals are fighting back in small ways in the country regions, but this will bring retribution of the most severe kind.
Thousands of people from five villages in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township have fled their homes after the military regime vowed retribution against those involved in a conflict that killed two police members and injured a police captain on Thursday.
State-owned newspapers controlled by the military regime said Friday that three police members, including a police captain from a sub-police station, were stopped and attacked by about one hundred people near a Boke Htan Taw village while they were travelling to Depayin Town.
According to Sagaing Region-based media and sources, the confrontation occurred when the three police officers traveling in a vehicle encountered villagers from several villages returning from an anti-regime demonstration at Depayin Town on Thursday afternoon.
Two members of the police died at the scene and the police captain received serious injuries that required treatment at a military hospital, the state-owned newspapers said.
It also said that three firearms belonging to the police were taken by the mob.
Source the Irrawaddy 19th March 2021.
Community-based free funeral service organizations in Bago have refused to assist in the funeral of a police captain who died during a crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
“The police asked some funeral services to help with the funeral but they all refused,” said a Bago resident.
Another resident, who asked for anonymity, said the funeral of Captain Kyaw Naing Oo was held at Sinpyukwin cemetery on Tuesday at noon with the police providing security. They used the Bago bypass instead of Shwethalyaung Pagoda Road, which is normally used for the cemetery.
“They didn’t use the normal road to the cemetery, suggesting they are suspicious of the public. There are issues between them and the people that can’t be seen,” said the resident.
The 37-year-old died while large numbers of officers were forcibly dispersing student protesters in Ponnasu ward on March 14.
According to Bago police, Captain Kyaw Naing Oo served in the office of regional police chief and died from an entry wound. Further details are unknown.
Source the Irrawaddy 19th March 2021
Apparently, there are more reports of police casualties, but they are not being confirmed or released by the authorities.
The exodus from Yangon gathers pace.
On Friday, local media showed traffic clogging up a main highway going north out of Yangon, reporting that people were fleeing the city for rural areas.
AFP also spoke with residents who had already fled or were preparing to leave.
“I no longer feel safe and secure anymore – some nights I am not able to sleep,” a resident near one of the districts where security forces have killed protesters this week told AFP.
“I am very worried that the worst will happen next because where I live … is very intense, with security forces taking people from the streets.”
The woman said she had bought bus tickets for her home state in Myanmar’s west and would leave in a couple days.
One resident told AFP he feared being shot by security forces, who had been threatening people if they did not clear barricades.
“We are like house rats searching for something to eat in another person’s kitchen,” said one man who described the fear of leaving his house this week to get milk for his two children.
Multiple residents across the city told AFP that soldiers and police were forcing them at gunpoint to remove barricades protecting their neighbourhoods.
Source the Frontier 19th March 2021
It is getting very difficult to collect information as the clampdown on internet and wi-fi continues. Accept my apologies for the “bitty” nature of this report but I just try and put a report together as information becomes available. Something very unpleasant is in the wind though and I will try to keep up to date on events.
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