On Sunday morning a group of protesters walked together in Kyimyindaing Township, Yangon, waving bunches of eugenia and roses. The banner read: The only real prison is fear and the real freedom is freedom from fear. The words are famously those of the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi whose sentencing by the junta was announced on Monday.
Minutes after they had arrived, witnesses told local media that a military vehicle rammed into the group. According to the independent Myanmar outlet, at least five people were killed. Some of the more than 10,700 people arrested since the February coup were arrested by those who survived.
Since the military seized power in Myanmar, almost a year has passed. Despite the generals arresting thousands of people, including the country's elected leaders, and unleashing terror across the country, opposition to the junta remains widespread.
A civil disobedience movement continues to hold small, peaceful flashmob-style protests while armed groups carry out guerrilla ambushes across the country. Young people have fled to the jungle to train and communities have taken up arms to defend their territories, at times in alliance with existing resistance organisations drawn from ethnic groups in conflict with the military.
Six months ago, people didn't think that an armed resistance was viable. But if you look at the scale and breadth of armed resistance throughout the country, there are lots of groups that are mobilising, said David Mathieson, an independent analyst who specialises in Myanmar.
Mathieson said the military was most likely to be taken aback by the scale of opposition. What kind of hornets nest have we stirred here? They must be thinking, what kind of hornets nest have we stirred? It has fought for decades against ethnic armed organisations. They are now facing normal people who would not have countenanced an armed revolt a year ago. The public had no choice but to defend itself, said Dr Sasa, spokesperson for the exiled opposition National Unity Government NUG. The military are destroying our democracy and freedom, but they are also destroying our dignity as human beings. It's like do or die. Such defence forces whose numbers Sasa did not specify may stretch the army's resources more thinly across the country, but analysts say they lack coordination. Some have pledged allegiance to the NUG, formed by elected lawmakers, and declared a defensive war in September, while others have allied with ethnic armed organisations or both. Some operate autonomously.
The degree of control it has over various groups is not known, though the NUG has produced ethical guidelines for such groups. Mathieson said that they don't think they have as much coordination as they claim to have. The guerrilla tactics used against the military include assassinations of its officials, bombing military property and sabotaging infrastructure such as telecom towers and bridges.
The NUG states that almost 3,000 junta troops have died in fighting between June and November, and that 8,000 military and police personnel have defected. According to the data quoted by the junta, 75 soldiers and 93 policemen were killed between February and October.
Mathieson said such figures should be treated with caution. Myanmar's generals were surprised by the rapid formation of opposition defence forces, but they are facing the second largest army in south-east Asia, supplied by China and Russia. The established insurgent groups are financed by illegal drug and jade trades, but they lack the same financial clout and supply of weapons.
An arms dealer interviewed by Agence France-Presse said that Myanmar's kyat currency plunged in the aftermath of the coup, and the cost of weapons has risen sharply. In March-April, a M- 16 rifle cost about 4 m kyat $2,247, while an AK-47 cost 5 m kyat - now the cost has doubled, forcing fighters to rely on homemade guns and donations.
Communities find ways to resist, away from the training camps for anti-coup recruits. Many people don't pay their electricity bills, cutting off income to a state-backed power company. The companies that are aligned with the military are shunned. A popular Myanmar shopping mall, Myanmar Plaza, is facing a mass boycott after its security staff hit young students who were staging a protest.
Orders announced by the military are ignored. Some residents in Yangon hand out free face masks in defiance of military rules that forbid the wearing of face coverings near to where soldiers are stationed.
Despite the constant risk of deadly military violence, flashmobs continue to be held. On Sunday night in Yangon, the clanging of metal could be heard across the streets. Residents banged pots and pans to protest against the military and to honour the lives of the protesters killed that morning.
Chris Sidoti, a Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, said that the country was likely to descend into a protracted conflict unless pressure was placed on the military to negotiate. The democratic movement is determined this time. He said it will not give up, it will not stand down. He said that the international community should cut off cash and arms and make greater use of non-military channels to deliver aid. According to the UN, about 3 million people need life-saving assistance.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent anti-coup activist, said every day she gets requests from people who are on strike as part of the civil disobedience movement and struggling to make ends meet. Even if I can't help, they say: I won't return to the ministry. They do it because of their political beliefs, so they are finding a way.