MYANMAR JUNTA KILLS NEARLY 1,000 CIVILIANS SINCE FEBRUARY 1 COUP: ACTIVISTS

Wed 18 August 2021:

Nearly 1,000 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, says the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group that records killings by the country’s security forces.

“According to AAPP records, 1,001 innocent people have been killed,” AAPP secretary Tate Naing told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday, without elaborating on the discrepancy in the numbers.

“The actual number of victims is much higher,” Tate added.

DAILY UPDATE (17/08)

999 killed by this junta
7320 total arrested since coup
5712 currently detained/sentenced
1984 evading arrest warrant

brief https://t.co/bxneYiEd8F
detained https://t.co/P2PyrDQGEh
fatalities https://t.co/JdMXKIZqVo
releases https://t.co/W0bO1yXTWR pic.twitter.com/OuYOGKRALW

— AAPP (Burma) (@aapp_burma) August 17, 2021

A spokesman for the Myanmar military did not respond to a call requesting comment.

The military authorities have previously said the AAPP figures, widely cited by international organisations, are exaggerated.

The army has also said scores of members of the security forces have been killed. The AAPP does not include them in its count.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army removed the civilian leadership with protests continuing daily, fighting flaring in border regions and widespread strikes that have severely damaged the economy.

The army overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, alleging irregularities in an election won by her National League for Democracy party in November 2020. The then-electoral commission and international monitors have said the army accusations were wrong.

The military says its seizure of power should not be called a coup because it was in line with the constitution.

The army is also being investigated for genocide over its brutal crackdown on the minority Rohingya in 2017 that forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee into Bangladesh.

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