Forces killed more than 90 people across Myanmar on Saturday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, news reports and witnesses said.
According to Reuters, the lethal crackdown came on Armed Forces Day. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade in the capital Naypyitaw to mark the event that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.
The Myanmar Now news portal has said that 91 people were killed across the country by security forces.
BREAKING – Our tally shows that as of 1630 Myanmar time, 91 civilians in 40 towns across #Myanmar have been killed today (Mar 27) by the coup regime’s armed forces. #WhatsHappeningInMaynmar pic.twitter.com/P5PNAxO7vX
— Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) March 27, 2021
The deaths on Saturday would take the number of civilians reported killed since the coup to well over 400.
“This 76th Myanmar armed forces day will stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour,” the EU delegation to Myanmar said. “The killing of unarmed civilians, including children, are indefensible acts.”
The UN in Myanmar has said that it “is horrified by the needless loss of life today with reports of dozens of people shot dead by the military across the country. The violence is completely unacceptable & must stop immediately. Those responsible must be held to account.”
As of Friday, a total of 3,070 people have been arrested in relation to the military coup, and at least 328 people were killed by the junta, according to a daily report by the AAPP.