New Delhi, India – As thousands of angry residents continued to pour onto the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s former capital, in defiance of an official ban, the country’s military dictatorship tightened its clampdown on anti-government protests Thursday in a show of force that left at least nine dead.
Among those killed in clashes was a Japanese photographer who was shot while trying to capture images of the large-scale uprisings that have offered the repressive ruling junta its most powerful challenge in almost 20 years.
Witness accounts, television footage and photos beamed through cellphones showed security forces with riot shields marching down Yangon’s boulevards on the second day of an increasingly brutal crackdown.
Security forces fired tear gas and warning shots from automatic weapons to disperse the crowds, which scurried for cover, leaving behind sandals and pools of blood.
The spiraling unrest stoked fears of a repeat of a 1988 massacre of pro-democracy protesters, in which about 3,000 people were killed in the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma. It also sparked concern in bordering countries of growing instability on their doorstep.
Even China, Myanmar’s traditional ally, issued a public admonition to the country’s military regime to proceed with caution.
A special U.N. envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was expected to arrive soon in Myanmar.
“The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand their freedom, and the American people stand in solidarity with these brave individuals,” President Bush said in a statement.
Up to 70,000 people ignored government warnings to stay home and marched through Yangon, also known as Rangoon, for a 10th day of protests, according to news reports and dissident groups in exile.
Whereas previous rallies had been led by Buddhist monks, who are revered in Burmese society, fewer monks turned out Thursday, most likely because government forces raided at least six monasteries before dawn and reportedly beat and arrested scores of people.
The majority of demonstrators Thursday appeared to be ordinary citizens, some of whom shouted for freedom from the military rule that has driven their country into poverty and isolation.
“It’s civilians and students. The monks were beaten up in public, which causes outrage. Despite the fact that they knew they might be shot, there are still protests in Rangoon,” said Soe Myint, editor of the Burma-focused Mizzima News website and a dissident based in India.
There were unconfirmed reports of protests in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, and three other cities.
In Yangon, protesters tried to converge on a familiar rallying point, the Sule pagoda, a sacred and politically symbolic shrine near which the 1988 massacre of demonstrators took place, The Associated Press reported.
But when marchers threw rocks and bottles at surrounding soldiers and police, the security forces charged amid a fusillade of gunfire. The Japanese photojournalist died in the melee.
State media, which blamed the monks for instigating the unrest and inciting “the mob group,” said nine people were killed Thursday and 11 wounded. Witnesses and activist organizations say the real death toll could be much higher.
The U.S. announced new sanctions against Myanmar and its leaders, naming 14 senior officials subject to having assets frozen.
The New York Times reported that superstitious Burmese had predicted violence on this date, whose digits add up repeatedly to the astrologically powerful number nine: The 27th day of the ninth month in 2007.
