Myanmar security forces use tear gas and rubber bullets on anti-coup protesters

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Security forces in Myanmar have ratcheted up their pressure against anti-coup protesters&comma; using water cannons&comma; tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators and striking dock workers in Mandalay&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At least five people were injured by rubber bullets in the nation’s second-largest city and had to be carried away in ambulances&comma; according to an Associated Press journalist who witnessed the violence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Some 500 police and soldiers descended on the area near Yadanabon dock after dock workers joined the national civil disobedience movement&comma; refusing to work until the military junta that seized power in a February 1 coup reinstates the democratically elected government&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Protesters and residents were forced to flee the neighbourhood amid the violence&comma; as security forces chased after them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There were reports of sounds that resembled gunfire&comma; but it was not immediately clear whether it was tear gas canisters being fired or live bullets&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A group of journalists was forced to flee after being hit with tear gas and catapult projectiles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Earlier in the week in Mandalay&comma; security forces cracked down on state railway workers in a similar fashion after they joined the civil disobedience movement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Less than an hour after the 8pm curfew started on Wednesday&comma; gunshots were heard as more than two dozen police officers with shields and helmets marched past railway workers’ housing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Numerous videos posted on social media showed muzzle flashes as shots were heard&comma; and some police shot catapults and threw rocks at the buildings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Marching chants of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;left&comma; right&comma; left&comma; right” could be heard along with shouts of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;shoot&comma; shoot”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Also on Saturday&comma; anti-coup protesters in Myanmar’s two largest cities paid tribute to a young woman who died a day earlier after being shot by police during a rally against the military takeover&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>An impromptu memorial created under an elevated roadway in Yangon attracted around 1&comma;000 protesters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A wreath of bright yellow flowers was hung beneath a photograph of Mya Thwet Thwet Khine&comma; who was shot in the capital Naypyitaw on February 9&comma; two days before her 20th birthday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Her death on Friday&comma; announced by her family&comma; was the first confirmed fatality among thousands of protesters who have faced off against security forces since top military commander Min Aung Hlaing took power in the coup&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Protesters at the memorial chanted and held up signs that read &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;End the dictatorship in Myanmar” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You will be remembered Mya Thwet Thwet Khine&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The supporters also laid roses and rose petals on images of the woman&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Video from the day she was shot show her sheltering from water cannons and suddenly dropping to the ground after a bullet penetrated the motorcycle helmet she was wearing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She had been on life support in hospital for more than a week with what doctors said was no chance of recovery&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>US State Department spokesperson Ned Price offered his government’s condolences on Friday and reiterated calls on the military to refrain from violence against peaceful protesters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In Mandalay&comma; a protest led by medical university students drew more than 1&comma;000 people&comma; many of whom also carried flowers and images of Mya Thwet Thwet Khine&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Others held signs saying &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;CDM”&comma; referring to the nationwide civil disobedience movement that has encouraged doctors&comma; engineers and others to protest against the coup by refusing to work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Across the country&comma; protests showed no signs of slowing down on Saturday despite recent crackdowns by the military government – including a sixth consecutive night in which the internet was cut for many hours&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Demonstrators also gathered elsewhere in Yangon&comma; chanting and holding placards and images of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi&comma; whose democratically elected government was overthrown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Aerial images taken on Friday showed streets in Yangon painted with the words &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The military dictatorship must fall” in Burmese&comma; and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We want democracy” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Free our leaders” in English&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Security forces have been relatively restrained so far in confronting protesters in Yangon&comma; but appeared to be toughening their stance in areas where there is less media presence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Police used force for a second day on Friday to arrest protesters in Myitkyina&comma; the capital of the remote northern state of Kachin&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Kachin ethnic minority has long been in conflict with the central government&comma; and there has been intermittent armed struggle against the army there for decades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The junta seized power after detaining Ms Suu Kyi and preventing parliament from convening&comma; saying elections in November were tainted by voting irregularities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The election outcome&comma; in which Ms Suu Kyi’s party won by a landslide&comma; was affirmed by an election commission that has since been replaced by the military&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The junta says it will hold new elections in a year’s time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The US&comma; British and Canadian governments have imposed sanctions on the new military leaders&comma; and they and other nations have called for Ms Suu Kyi’s administration to be restored&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The coup was a major setback to Myanmar’s transition to democracy after 50 years of army rule&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ms Suu Kyi came to power after her National League for Democracy party won a 2015 election&comma; but the generals retained substantial power under the constitution&comma; which was adopted under a military regime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed52914b026">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; 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