YANGON • Myanmar's security forces quickly snuffed out sporadic anti-junta protests yesterday, after hundreds of young activists who had been trapped overnight in a district of its biggest city Yangon were able to get out.
Western powers and the United Nations had called on Myanmar's military rulers to allow the youngsters to leave amid fears for their safety as troops moved in.
The army takeover and arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1 have brought the nation to a near standstill. Daily protests are being staged across the country, and security forces are cracking down harshly.
More than 60 protesters have been killed and over 1,800 detained, an advocacy group said.
An official from Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party died in custody yesterday after he was arrested earlier in the day.
Former member of Parliament Ba Myo Thein told Reuters that the party official, Mr Zaw Myat Linn, was arrested at around 1.30am.
This is the second party official who has died in police custody - Mr Khin Maung Latt died on Sunday after his arrest the night before.
Scattered protests were held in Yangon and other towns across Myanmar yesterday, but were quickly broken up by security forces using tear gas and stun grenades.
At least two people were wounded, one by a gunshot, in the town of Mohnyin in the north, local media said.
In the north-east town of Myitkyina, a nun went down on her knees in front of police and pleaded with them to stop shooting protesters.
Video footage showed Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng kneeling on a street on Monday, speaking to two policemen who were also kneeling. "I said, 'I don't want to see any trouble here and can't leave if police don't leave,'" she said. "I begged them not to shoot the children."
Thousands of people defied a night-time curfew on Monday to take to the streets of Yangon in support of the youth in the Sanchaung district, where they had been holding a daily protest against the coup.
Police firing guns and using stun grenades announced on Monday that they would check houses for anyone from outside the district and said they would punish anyone caught hiding them.
Youth activist Shar Ya Mone said she had been in a building with about 15 to 20 others, but was later able to go home. "There were many free car rides and people welcoming the protesters," she said.
She added that she would keep demonstrating "until the dictatorship ends".
Another protester posted on social media that they were able to leave the area at around 5am after security forces pulled out.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for "maximum restraint" and the safe release of all protesters without violence or arrests, a call echoed by the United States and British embassies in Myanmar.
An advocacy rights group said around 50 people had been arrested in Sanchaung after police searched houses, though checks were still being made.
A junta spokesman did not answer calls requesting comment.
State television MRTV said earlier: "The government's patience has run out and while trying to minimise casualties in stopping riots, most people seek complete stability (and) are calling for more effective measures against riots."
The US criticised the junta after an announcement on Monday saying that five independent media companies had been stripped of their licences.
"We have very strongly condemned the junta for the, in many cases, violent crackdowns on those peacefully taking to the streets and on those who are just doing their jobs, including independent journalists who have been swept up," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
The Myanmar military has brushed off condemnation of its actions, as it has in past periods of army rule when outbreaks of protest were bloodily repressed.
This time, it is also under pressure from a civil disobedience movement that has crippled government business and shut much of Yangon this week.
In a diplomatic blow to the junta, Myanmar's ambassador in Britain followed its UN representative in calling for the release of Ms Suu Kyi, drawing praise from British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab.
The European Union is preparing to widen its sanctions to target army-run businesses, according to diplomats and two internal documents seen by Reuters.
REUTERS
