FRESH ANTI-COUP PROTESTS IN MYANMAR, INTERNET RESTORED AS MILITARY CIRCLES

Mon 15 February 2021:

Pro-democracy protests resumed in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, as Myanmar’s junta cut the nation’s internet and deployed extra troops around the country on Monday as fears built of a widespread crackdown on anti-coup protests, but defiant demonstrators again took to the streets.

Livestreams shared by Myanmar media showed people gathering in different parts of Yangon, as an Internet blackout that was enforced overnight appeared to lift.

NetBlocks, which tracks Internet disruption, said on Twitter that connectivity was being restored, but that social media remained restricted for many users. The system was shut down for eight hours from 1am (18:30 GMT).

⚠️ Confirmed: A near-total internet shutdown is in effect in #Myanmar as of 1 a.m. local time; real-time network data show national connectivity at just 14% of ordinary levels following state-ordered information blackout; incident ongoing 📉

📰Background: https://t.co/Jgc20OBk27 pic.twitter.com/wWWVzb0c0G

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) February 14, 2021

Deepening fears the military was going to impose a far harsher crackdown, troops in the northern city of Myitkyina fired tear gas then shot at a crowd on Sunday night.

A journalist at the scene said it was unclear whether police had used rubber bullets or live rounds.

Local media outlets said at least five journalists monitoring the protest had been detained and published pictures of some people wounded in the incident.

The United Nations and a number of western countries including the United States have condemned the coup, and on Friday the US imposed the first new sanctions on military chief Min Aung Hlaing and other senior generals.

In a statement late on Sunday, following reports of shots being fired in the northern state of Kachin and the deployment of armoured vehicles to various cities in Myanmar, United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in the country.

On Monday, more than a dozen police trucks with four water cannon vehicles were deployed near the Sule Pagoda in Yangon, which has been one of the city’s main centres for protest.

About 15 trucks with malnourished adolescents and camouflaged clothes just passed my house after 8 hours of internet blackout. I feel like I’m in some dystopian movie. pic.twitter.com/ItVZr2eX81

— Htet Myet Oo (@Htet__) February 15, 2021

The generals are also facing a civil disobedience movement calling on the military to step down and free the country’s civilian leaders.

Thousands of government workers from doctors to railway workers have already walked out with a nationwide strike expected on Monday.

The military seized power on February 1, the day Myanmar’s parliament was due to begin a new session following elections in November, which were won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) in a landslide.

Detaining NLD founder and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as senior members of her government, the generals said they were forced into the coup because of alleged election fraud. Election officials have said there is no evidence of fraud.