Five people were killed and at least 15 arrested after Myanmar security forces rammed into an anti-coup protest in Yangon on Sunday, according to local media.
Hundreds of people were injured, according to witnesses on the scene. Photos and videos on social media show a vehicle that had crashed through the protesters and bodies lying on the road.
Despite the violence, another protest was held in Yangon later in the day. More than 1,300 people were killed since the 1st February coup, and demonstrations against the military have continued despite the killing of more than 1,300 people. Small groups expressing opposition to the overthrow of the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule tend to be the focus of the scattered protests.
The opposition's shadow government said it was heartbroken at the latest deaths. The National Unity Government's defence ministry stated on social media that they will strongly respond to the terrorist military who brutally killed the unarmed peaceful protesters.
A flash mob protest had been rammed minutes after it started, witnesses said.
One protester said by phone, "I got hit and fell down in front of a truck." A soldier beat me with his rifle, but I defended and pushed him back. He immediately shot at me as I ran away in a zig-zag pattern. I escaped. A car occupied by soldiers hit the crowd from the back, two witnesses said, and then followed the scattered protesters arresting and beating them. Some received head wounds and were knocked unconscious, witnesses said.
A military junta spokesman did not answer Sunday's calls for comment, but he previously said that protesters had instigated the violence.
The military has also said that it staged the coup because a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi s party was rigged, a claim that the electoral commission has dismissed.
Since the coup, the wars with ethnic minority in the remote frontier regions of the north and east have intensified, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to UN estimates.
Aun San Suu Kyi, 76, faces a number of cases against her, including incitement and violations of the Covid 19 protocols. She has rejected all of the charges against her.