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Death toll in Myanmar unrest surpasses 300

THE number of anti-coup protesters confirmed killed in Myanmar since last month’s military takeover has passed 300, an opposition group said today.

The total of 320 dead includes only documented cases, so the actual number of casualties is “likely much higher,” said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

As of Thursday, 2,981 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced as part of the ongoing crackdown since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in the coup on February 1, the group said.

Anti-coup demonstrations continued in cities and towns across Myanmar today, despite the security forces’ use of lethal force. 

Reports of casualties emerged on social media, but they could not be confirmed immediately.

At about 4am, an unidentified group threw firebombs at the headquarters of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party in Yangon, but local residents managed to put out the fire before it could cause any major damage.

The AAPP described a typical deadly confrontation in Taunggyi, eastern Myanmar, on Thursday, when “the junta used live ammunition, trying to create a combat zone of residential areas, resulting in four civilians shot and killed. One dead body was dragged away, some other civilians were injured.

“Junta forces raided houses and violently arrested youths and civilians, thereafter destroying motorcycles, cars and barricades. 

“They stormed streets unprovoked, shouted obscenities and vandalised property.”

Meanwhile, three Myanmar nationals with serious bullet wounds were admitted to a hospital in north-east India today after crossing the border. 

Indian authorities pushed eight people back into Myanmar and allow the injured to receive hospital treatment “purely on humanitarian grounds,” a police officer said. 

Indian state ministers have said that the number of people fleeing across the border since the coup could be in the hundreds. 

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