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More demos in Myanmar as army kills protester

MEDICAL workers marched in scrubs against the junta in Mandalay at dawn today, chanting slogans calling for the army to relinquish power.

The demonstration went off peacefully in Myanmar’s second-largest city, though authorities attacked protesters in other cities, killing at least one.

Engineers organised a “no human” protest, lining streets in Mandalay with protest signs overnight instead of rallying because of the army’s increasingly brutal crackdown on protest.

The city has been a focal point for demonstrations of resistance, with residents showing support for striking rail workers evicted from their state-provided homes by gathering to help them load their belongings and furniture into removal vans.

Railway workers have been on strike since last month in opposition to the February 1 military takeover and the arrest of the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Authorities have ordered them to leave their homes after other intimidation tactics — including nocturnal raids and patrols — failed to force them back to work.

The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has verified 247 deaths nationwide linked to the post-coup crackdown. The actual total, including cases where verification has been difficult, is probably much higher, it said. It also has confirmed that 2,345 people have been arrested or charged, with 1,994 still detained or sought for arrest. 

On Friday, Save the Children, Unicef and Unesco accused the army of occupying education facilities including schools and university campuses, and said the forces had precipitated “a learning crisis for almost 12 million children and young people in Myanmar.”

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