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Myanmar security forces opened fire on Sunday as people gathered for the funeral of one of the 114 people killed the previous day, the bloodiest day of protests since the military coup on February 1st, witnesses said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the firing on the funeral in the town of Bago, near the commercial capital Yangon, according to three sources.
“While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us,” said a woman called Aye, who was at the service for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old student who was shot on Saturday. “People, including us, run away as they opened fire.”
Two people were killed in firing on protests on Sunday in separate incidents, witnesses and news reports said. One person was killed when troops opened fire overnight on a group of protesters near the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar Now news reported.
So far on Sunday there were no reports of large-scale protests in Yangon or in the country’s second city, Mandalay, which bore the brunt of the casualties on Saturday, Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day. Funerals were held in many places.
At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among the 114 people killed by state security forces on Saturday in a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, according to news reports and witnesses.
Saturday’s death toll included 40 people in Mandalay and at least 27 in Yangon, Myanmar Now said. The casualties took the overall number of civilians reported killed since the coup to more than 440.

Nay Win Tun and Moe Moe Khine carry their 1-year-old daughter who was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet fired by the security forces while the baby was inside their home in Yangon on Saturday. Photograph: New York Times


Irish citizens in Myanmar are being advised to leave the country by commercial means unless they have an urgent reason to stay. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said the Irish embassy in Bangkok is maintaining regular communication with all registered Irish citizens in Myanmar to provide advice and information.
In a statement Mr Coveney said: “The security forces have disgraced themselves and these actions leave another stain on the history of Myanmar.
“Those who directed these killings must be held to account,” he added, calling on the Myanmar military to “step back from actions designed to consolidate power through fear and brutal violence” and recognise “their actions are leading the country to further division and instability”.
Among the dead on Saturday were a 13-year-old girl, shot inside her house in the Mandalay region, and a 16-year-old boy shot while driving a motorcycle, according to rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). A father of four was burned alive in Aungmyethazan township in Mandalay, according to local media. The death toll will likely rise in coming days as more are verified and documented, the AAPP said.
The killings have drawn strong renewed criticism from leaders across the world.
A dozen defence chiefs from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific jointly condemned the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the military and associated security services. “A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting – not harming – the people it serves,” they said in the statement.

Anti-coup protesters squat behind a barricade that separates them from security forces on the opposite side of the road in the Dala township of Yangon on Friday. Photograph: AP


The US ambassador to Myanmar, Thomas Vajda, tweeted that the “bloodshed is horrifying”. Japanese minister for foreign affairs Toshimitsu Motegi called for the military to stop the violence, free detained political protesters and restore democracy.
The European Union’s delegation in Myanmar called Saturday a “day of terror and dishonour”. “The killing of unarmed civilians, including children, are indefensible acts,” the delegation said in a statement. “The European Union stands more than ever by the courageous people of Myanmar and calls for an immediate and unconditional end of all forms of violence and the restoration of democracy.”
British Ambassador Dan Chugg said the security forces had “disgraced themselves” and the US envoy called the violence horrifying.
Air strikes
Shots were fired at the cultural American Center Yangon on Saturday, according to Aryani Manring, a representative for the US embassy in Myanmar. She didn’t provide details and said the incident is being investigated.
Military jets also launched air strikes on a village in territory controlled by an armed group from the Karen ethnic minority and at least two people were killed, a civil society group said.
Earlier, the Karen National Union said it had overrun an army post near the Thai border, killing 10 people – including a lieutenant colonel – and losing one of its own fighters as tensions with the military surged after years of relative peace.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.
Demonstrators turned out on Saturday in Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, as they have done almost daily since the February 1st coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Protesters against the February 1st military coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, defying a warning that they could be shot “in the head and back” as the country’s generals celebrated Armed Forces Day. Photograph: AP


“Today is a day of shame for the armed forces,” Dr Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum.
A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment on the killings by security forces, the air strikes or the insurgent attack on its post.
“They are killing us like birds or chickens, even in our homes,” said Thu Ya Zaw in the central town of Myingyan, where at least two protesters were killed. “We will keep protesting regardless . . . We must fight until the junta falls.”
‘Terror and dishonour’
British foreign minister Dominic Raab said the killing of unarmed civilians and children marked a new low, while the EU delegation to Myanmar said Saturday would “forever stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour”.
News reports said there were deaths in Sagaing, Lashio in the east, in the Bago region, near Yangon, and elsewhere. A one-year-old baby was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet.
Min Aung Hlaing, speaking at the parade in the capital Naypyitaw, reiterated a promise to hold elections, without giving any time-frame.
“The army seeks to join hands with the entire nation to safeguard democracy,” he said in a live broadcast on state television. “Violent acts that affect stability and security in order to make demands are inappropriate.”
The military has said it took power because November elections won by Suu Kyi’s party were fraudulent, an assertion dismissed by the country’s election commission. Suu Kyi remains in detention at an undisclosed location and many other figures in her party are also in custody.

Anti-coup protesters squat behind a barricade that separates them from security forces on the opposite side of the road in the Dala township of Yangon on Friday. Photograph: AP


New US and European sanctions this week increased external pressure on the junta, but the condemnation is not universal.
Russia’s deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin attended the parade in Naypyitaw, having met senior junta leaders a day earlier.
“Russia is a true friend,” Min Aung Hlaing said.
Diplomats said eight countries - Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand – sent representatives, but Russia was the only one to send a minister to the parade on Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the start of the resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945.
Support from Russia and China, which has also refrained from criticism, is important for the junta as those two countries are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and can block potential UN actions.
In a warning on Friday evening, state television said protesters were “in danger of getting shot to the head and back”. It did not specifically say security forces had been given shoot-to-kill orders and the junta has previously suggested some fatal shootings have come from within the crowds.
Gunshots hit the US cultural centre in Yangon on Saturday, but nobody was hurt and the incident was being investigated, US Embassy spokesperson Aryani Manring said.
Author and historian Thant Myint-U wrote on Twitter: “Even after weeks of appalling violence, today’s killing of civilians is shocking both in nature and scale, with again children amongst the dead, and deserves the world’s concerted attention and help.” –Reuters, Bloomberg