Armed police fire on protesters outside power plant in Myanmar

Armed police fire on protesters outside power plant in northern Myanmar as demonstrations against military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi continued in major cities for a NINTH day

• Armed security forces have fired at protestors outside a power plant in Myanmar
• Water cannons were also deployed, but it is not known if the bullets were rubber
• The protest was just one of many held across Myanmar against the military coup
• Today marks the ninth day of protests in major Myanmar  against the coup

Security forces fired at protestors outside a power plant in northern Myanmar in an attempt to break up the crowd.

Footage broadcast live on Facebook showed the crowd being shot at by security personnel, but it is not clear whether they were using rubber or real bullets. 

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the power plant in Kachin, near the city of Myitkyina, which soldiers had occupied since staging a military coup.

In the video footage, the crowds of protestors were doused with a water cannon while security forces fired into the crowd.

Security forces fired at protestors outside a power plant in northern Myanmar in an attempt to break up the crowd. Pictured: Anti-coup protestors gather outside the UN Information office in Yangon, Myanmar earlier today

The military seized power in Myanmar on February1, detaining Suu Kyi and members of her government and preventing recently elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament. Pictured: A military armoured vehicle is seen driving along a road in Yangon, Myanmar earlier today

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘A few minutes ago the Tatmadaw reinforced with military tanks and now they started shooting.’

The protest at the power plant was far from the only incident seen across Myanmar, as vast numbers of people flouted anti-demonstration orders to march today against the military takeover. 

Eight days of street demonstrations are estimated to have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the streets despite the threat of six months’ imprisonment for violating an order banning gatherings of five or more people. 

The same order imposes an 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew.

Large demonstrations were held in the major cities of Yangon, Mandalay and the capital, Naypyitaw, as well as in far-flung areas dominated by ethnic minorities. 

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the power plant in Kachin, near the city of Myitkyina, which soldiers had occupied since staging a military coup. Pictured: Anti-coup demonstrators hold up banners in protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, earlier today

The protest at the power plant was far from the only incident seen across Myanmar, as vast numbers of people flouted anti-demonstration orders to march today against the military takeover

Resistance also took place in cyberspace, as a group calling itself BrotherHood of Myanmar Hackers defaced the government’s Myanmar Digital News website, replacing content on its home page with words and pictures against the military takeover. 

Protesters in Yangon again rallied outside the Chinese and U.S. embassies. They accuse Beijing of propping up the military regime and applaud Washington’s actions sanctioning the military.

‘The civil disobedience movement and demonstrations show that the people of Myanmar want democracy. We stand with them,’ said a statement Saturday on the U.S. Embassy’s Twitter account.

Sunday’s activism took place after the ruling junta issued a new order suspending several basic civil liberties.

The order, issued late Saturday and published earlier today in state newspapers, suspends provisions in an existing law on security and privacy protection.

Eight days of street demonstrations are estimated to have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the streets despite the threat of six months’ imprisonment for violating an order banning gatherings of five or more people

Large demonstrations were held in the major cities of Yangon (pictured), Mandalay and the capital, Naypyitaw, as well as in far-flung areas dominated by ethnic minorities

This allows the authorities to carry out searches and make arrests without court warrants.

It also allows the interception of electronic and other communications without a warrant and permits the detention of detainees for more than 24 hours without court permission. 

The military seized power in Myanmar on February 1, detaining Suu Kyi and members of her government and preventing recently elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament.

The junta, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said it was forced to step in because the government failed to properly investigate allegations of fraud in last year’s election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won in a landslide. 

The state election commission refuted that contention, saying there is no evidence to support it.

Protesters in Yangon again rallied outside the Chinese and U.S. embassies. They accuse Beijing of propping up the military regime and applaud Washington’s actions sanctioning the military

Sunday’s activism took place after the ruling junta issued a new order suspending several basic civil liberties. The order, issued late Saturday and published earlier today in state newspapers, suspends provisions in an existing law on security and privacy protection

During the protests, a 19-year-old woman who was shot in the head with what experts said was live ammunition at a protest in Naypyitaw was on life support in a hospital and was not expected to recover.

Tributes to the woman were held Sunday by protesters in Yangon and Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city.

The military has also released around 23,000 convicts, some of which, it has been alleged, have been employed to carry out violence and instil panic.

There was already outrage at night-time raids during the curfew period in which security personnel have tried to seize people from their homes.

In several cases, neighbours and others people rushed to the scene in such numbers that security forces abandoned their attempts to haul in their targets.

The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says 384 people have been detained since the coup, with 360 still being held. 

Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, but a remand order holding her on a minor charge of possessing unregistered imported walkie-talkies expires Monday. 

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