MASS arrests, targeting of demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon and apparent use of lethal force by the security forces were reported in Myanmar today.

The coup regime established by an army takeover a month ago launched its heaviest crackdown yet on protesters demanding that the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy be allowed to take office, as it was due to on the eve of the coup.

There were reports of gunfire as police in Yangon, the country's biggest city, fired tear gas and water cannon while trying to clear the streets.

Photos of shell casings from live ammunition used in assault rifles were posted on social media.

Also on social media, there were reports identifying one young man believed to have been killed in Yangon. His body was shown in photos and videos lying on a pavement until other demonstrators were able to carry him away. 

The state repression began early in the morning as medical students marched in Yangon for the restoration of the elected government. Videos and photos showed protesters running away as police charged at them and residents setting up makeshift roadblocks to slow the security forces’ advance.

Nearby, residents a plead with police to release those they had picked up from the street and shoved into police vans to be taken away.

A violent crackdown also occurred in Dawei, a much smaller city in the south-east, where local media reported that at least three people were killed during a protest march. The fatalities could not immediately be independently confirmed, though photos posted on social media showed a wounded man in the care of medical personnel and later laid out on a bed under a blanket with flowers placed on top. 

Before today’s violence, there had been eight confirmed reports of killings linked to the army’s seizure of power, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners. Hundreds of people have been arrested, including Ms Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who remain in custody. Accurate figures for the numbers detained and killed are difficult to obtain in the absence of official information.

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations dramatically denounced the coup on Friday, calling for a stronger international response. The coup authorities said on Saturday that he had been sacked.