YANGON • Supporters of Myanmar's military - some armed with knives and clubs, others firing catapults and throwing stones - yesterday attacked opponents of the Feb 1 coup, while South-east Asian neighbours looked for ways to ease the crisis.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and many members of her party leadership, after the military complained of fraud in the Nov 8 election, which was swept by Ms Suu Kyi's party.
Protests and strikes have taken place daily for about three weeks.
Before coup opponents congregated yesterday, about 1,000 supporters of the military turned up at a rally in the city centre in the commercial hub Yangon.
Some threatened news photographers, witnesses said, and scuffles soon escalated into more serious violence in several parts of the city.
Several people were set upon and beaten by groups of men, some armed with knives, others firing catapults and hurling stones, witnesses added. At least two people were stabbed, video footage showed.
In one incident, several men - one wielding a large knife - attacked a man outside a city-centre hotel. Emergency workers helped the man covered in blood after the attackers moved off, but his condition was not known.
"Today's events show who the terrorists are. They're afraid of the people's action for democracy," activist Thin Zar Shun Lei Yi told Reuters. "We'll continue our peaceful protests against dictatorship."
Earlier, police blocked the gates of Yangon's main university campus, stopping hundreds of students inside from coming out to demonstrate.
Four anti-coup protesters have been killed in crackdowns, while a man patrolling a Yangon neighbourhood to ward off night arrests was shot dead at the weekend. The military has also reported the death of at least one police officer.
Military chief Min Aung Hlaing said the authorities are using minimal force. The junta has promised a new election, but has not given a date.
Thousands of truck drivers protesting against the coup have also slowed delivery of imports, trapping cargo containers at ports and prompting at least one international shipping line - Germany's Hapag-Lloyd AG - to stop new orders.
General Min Aung Hlaing has called for state spending and imports to be cut, and exports increased to revive what he called an ailing economy.
The United States, Britain and others have called for Ms Suu Kyi's release and the restoration of democracy, and have imposed limited sanctions aimed at members of the junta and its business links.
Britain yesterday announced further sanctions on six generals - including Gen Min Aung Hlaing - to send "a clear message... that those responsible for human rights violations will be held to account", said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
This comes after London imposed sanctions on three generals last week, and said it would work to ensure British businesses were not trading with military-owned companies.
"The authorities must hand back control to a government elected by the people of Myanmar," Mr Raab said.
On Wednesday, junta-appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin flew to Thailand to meet his Thai and Indonesian counterparts, in which the need for an "inclusive democratic transition process" was reiterated by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that his meeting with Mr Wunna Maung Lwin on Wednesday did not mean "endorsement".
Mr Prayut also denied that Thailand has joined Indonesia in becoming a mediator to solve the situation in Myanmar.
Nearly 140 non-governmental organisations from 31 countries signed an open letter on Wednesday calling for the United Nations Security Council to urgently impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.
The letter said: "Governments that permit arms transfers to Myanmar - including China, India, Israel, North Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Ukraine - should immediately stop the supply of any weapons, munitions and related equipment."
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG
