YANGON, Sept 28 (AP): Soldiers clubbed activists in the streets and fired warning shots Friday, moving decisively to break up demonstrations in Myanmar before they could gain momentum. Troops occupied Buddhist monasteries and cut public Internet access, raising concerns that the crackdown on civilians that has killed at least 10 people was set to intensify.
Troops also fired tear gas to break up a demonstration of about 2,000 people in the largest city, Yangon, witnesses said. Five protesters were seen being dragged into a truck and driven away. The clash in an area near the Sule Pagoda was the most serious of the several sporadic - though smaller - protests that were reported.
By sealing monasteries, the government seemed intent on clearing the streets of monks, who have spearheaded the demonstrations and are revered by most of their Myanmar countrymen. This could embolden troops to crack down harder on remaining civilian protesters.
Efforts to squelch the demonstrations appeared to be working. Daily protests drawing tens of thousands of people had grown into the stiffest challenge to the ruling military junta in two decades, a crisis that began Aug. 19 with rallies against a fuel price increase, then escalated dramatically when monks joined in.
Security forces first moved against the anti-government protesters Wednesday, when the first of the 10 deaths was reported. Images of bloodied protesters and fleeing crowds have riveted world attention on the escalating crisis, prompting many governments to urge the junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to end the violence.
The United States imposed new sanctions on the junta's leaders, and the United Nations dispatched a special envoy, who is expected to arrive Saturday.
Earlier Friday, soldiers and riot police moved quickly to disperse a crowd of 300 that started marching in Yangon, sealing the surrounding neighbourhood and ordering them to disperse. Elsewhere, they fired warning shots to scatter a group of 200.
Bob Davis, Australia's ambassador to Myanmar, said he had heard unconfirmed reports that "several multiples of the 10 acknowledged by the authorities" may have been killed by troops in Yangon. Scores have been arrested, carted away in trucks at night or pummeled with batons in recent days, witnesses and diplomats said, with the junta ignoring all international appeals for restraint.
"The military was out in force before they even gathered and moved quickly as small groups appeared breaking them up with gunfire, tear gas and clubs," said Shari Villarosa, the top US diplomat in Myanmar.
"It's tragic. These were peaceful demonstrators, very well behaved."
British Ambassador Mark Canning told BBC-TV that "there have been a lot of arrests," with up to 50 people detained at one time.
Video emerged of a striking image - the shooting death Thursday of a man identified as Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai of the video agency APF News.
Myanmar breaks up rallies, cuts Internet
FE Team | Published: September 29, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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