Anti-Coup Protests: 9 more killed in Myanmar

Security forces killed at least nine opponents of Myanmar's February 1 coup yesterday, a funeral service and media said, as Indonesia urged an end to violence and Western ambassadors condemned what they called the military's immoral, indefensible actions.

Police and soldiers have used increasingly violent tactics to suppress demonstrations by supporters of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but that has not deterred the protesters and crowds turned out again yesterday.

Security forces opened fire in a confrontation in the central town of Aungban as they tried to clear a protesters' barricade, media and a witness reported.

An official with Aungban's funerary service, who declined to be identified, told Reuters eight people were killed, seven on the spot and one wounded person who died after being taken to hospital in the nearby town of Kalaw.

One protester was killed in the northeastern town of Loikaw, the Myanmar Now news portal said. One person was shot and killed in the main city of Yangon, social media posts showed. Reuters could not confirm that death.

Demonstrators were also out in the second city of Mandalay, the central towns of Myingyan and Katha, and Myawaddy in the east, witnesses and media reported.

The total number of people killed in weeks of unrest has risen to at least 234, based on a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.

The UN human rights office said this week about 37 journalists had been arrested so far. Two more were detained in the capital, Naypyitaw, yesterday, while covering a hearing for an arrested member of Suu Kyi's party, said the Mizzima news portal, the former employer of one of them, Than Htike Aung.

The other detained reporter was Aung Thura of the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC).

Myanmar's Asian neighbours, led by Indonesia, have offered to help find a solution but failed to make headway.

The 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has long held to the principle of not commenting on each other's internal affairs, but there are growing signs that the Myanmar crisis is forcing a reassessment of that.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo made some of the strongest comments yet from a regional leader on the crackdown.

"Indonesia urges that the use of violence in Myanmar be stopped immediately so that there are no more victims," Jokowi, as he is known, said in a virtual address.

"The safety and welfare of the people must be the top priority. Indonesia also urges dialogue, that reconciliation is carried out immediately to restore democracy."

Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday expressed support for Widodo's call to hold an emergency Asean summit to address the situation in Myanmar.

He urged military leadership to change its course and choose a path towards peaceful solutions.

Myanmar's coup leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, took part in a video conference with regional defence chiefs on Thursday, his first international engagement since seizing power, state television showed.