Martial law imposed in parts of Myanmars Mandalay, say officials

Martial law was imposed in
seven townships in Myanmar’s
second biggest city, Mandalay on Monday, after thousands of anti-coup protestors
took to the streets demanding the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
AFP reports.

People are banned from protesting or gathering in
groups of more than five, and a curfew will run from 8 pm until 4 am, the
general administration department said in a statement.

“Some people… are behaving in a worrying way that can harm the
safety of public and law enforcement. Such behaviours can affect stability,
safety of people, law enforcement, and peaceful existence of villages and could
create riots, that’s why this order bans gathering, speaking in public, protest
by using vehicles, rallies,” the statement said.

A similar declaration has been made in a township in Ayeyarwaddy further
south, and announcements concerning other localities are expected to trickle
out tonight.

“This order is applied until further notice,” one Mandalay
township statement said.

Mandalay saw large crowd of people marching in the streets, clutching
photos of Suu Kyi and waving the red flags of her party.

The junta has so far refrained from using deadly force against the
demonstrations sweeping most of the country, but with pressure building, the police
fired water cannon in an attempt to disperse the crowds gathered in Naypyidaw.

Internet services were suspended across the nation. In Yangon, the
nation’s commercial capital, crowds spilt onto the city’s main roads,
immobilising traffic and dwarfing the previous day’s rally.

“Down with military dictatorship” and “release Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and arrested people”, protesters chanted, flashing the
three-finger salute that has come to symbolise their movement as car horns were
honked in support.

Calls for a nationwide strike gathered momentum over the weekend, with
textile workers, civil servants and railway employees walking out of work in
the commercial hub.

Myanmar’s generals detained Suu Kyi and other top NLD leaders last week,
justifying the coup by claiming fraud in last November’s elections, which the
party won in a landslide.

The junta proclaimed a one-year state of emergency, promising to hold
fresh elections after that without offering any precise timeframe.

US President Joe Biden, Pope Francis and South East Asian lawmakers have
condemned the Myanmar coup.