Nine protesters killed in Myanmar violence

At least 9 protestors were killed on Friday as protests continued in Myanmar against the military government which took over power from the civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The armed forces resorted to use of live ammunition against the protestors in the central town of Aungban killing at least eight people, says Reuters quoting an official of the funerary services in the town. One protestor was killed in the north eastern town of Loikaw, said the Myanmar Now news portal.

There are reports of firing and death from South Dagon in the Yangon area.  In the Thaketa area of Yangon also police firing is reported, though no figures of casualties are available. Protests against the military government continued in several towns and regions of Myanmar including Mandalay, TaungGyi, Hpakant, Khin Og and Kyite Hto. 

Since most of the newspapers have



been shut in the country, the figures about injuries and death are difficult to come by. According to the organisation tracking political prisoners and deaths in the protest in Myanmar AAPP, the death toll in Myanmar has gone up to 224 as on Thursday.

A journalist of BBC was reported missing on Friday as some plainclothes men picked him up from the Nay Pyi Taw area. BBC  and the British High Commission in Myanmar released statements expressing concern over the disappearance of the journalist and urged the authorities to help locate him.

The UN has asked the security forces in Myanmar to vacate 60 schools and university campuses in 13 states and regions that they have occupied. Save the Children, UNESCO and UNICEF said in a statement that the occupation of schools is a serious violation of the rights of the children.