Myanmar security forces surround hundreds of anti-coup protesters; US calls for withdrawal

Anti-coup protesters retreat from a line of riot police in Yangon, Myanmar, on March 10, 2021. STR/The Associated Press The UN Security Council agreed on Wednesday to condemn violence against Myanmar protesters and call on the army to show restraint, but China and Russia helped block language denouncing the military takeover as a coup and threatening further action. Firing tear gas and rubber bullets, Myanmar security forces trapped hundreds of anti-junta protesters late into the night in two districts of Yangon on Wednesday, prompting the U.S. Embassy to call for the forces to withdraw. Some protesters who managed to evade blockades set up by police in surrounding streets told of scores of arrests and said that some of those who got caught were beaten. More than 60 protesters have been killed and some 2,000 people have been detained by security forces since the Feb. 1 coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group said. A junta spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The military has brushed off condemnation of its actions, as it has in past periods of army rule when outbreaks of protest were forcibly repressed. State television…
Read More