Demonstrators in Myanmar maintained their unflinching opposition to military rule on Sunday despite a rising death toll at the hands of security forces as the junta appeared equally determined to resist growing outside pressure to compromise, reports Reuters.
One man was killed and several were wounded when police opened fire on a group setting up a barricade in the central town of Monywa, a doctor there said as a community group issued a call on Facebook for blood donors.
The violence has forced people determined to resist a return to military rule after a decade of tentative steps towards democracy to think up novel ways to make their stand.
Protesters in nearly 20 places across the country staged candle-lit protests on Saturday night and into Sunday, from the main city of Yangon to small communities in Kachin State in the north and the southernmost town of Kawthaung, according to a tally of social media posts.
Hundreds of people in the second city of Mandalay, including many medical staff in white coats, marched before sunrise in a “Dawn protest”, video posted by the Mizzima news portal showed. “Failure of the military regime, our cause our cause ... federal democracy, our cause our cause,” the crowd chanted as the sky was beginning to brighten and birds called from the trees lining the otherwise deserted streets.
