With the killing of 20 anti-coup protesters in Myanmar on Monday, the death toll has reached 183, says the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which has been tracking the situation since the February 1 coup, in its daily update.
The group said casualties have been rapidly growing as the military junta is tightening noose on pro-democracy protesters and using force to crush them.
Meanwhile, funerals of the dead protesters were set to take place on Tuesday in Yangon and elsewhere. Some families told media that the forces had seized the bodies of loved ones but they would still hold a funeral.
Earlier, Candle-lit vigils were held in parts of Yangon and Mandalay and some other towns. Photographs of the vigil were uploaded on social media websites.
A medical worker in the Dawbon area of Yangon said one protester was killed and six were injured in violence overnight as forces broke up a protest.
He said the medics team had to flee because they threatened if they didn’t leave the body they would shoot them.
As of March 15, a total of 2,175 people had been arrested, charged or sentenced by authorities, AAPP added.
It said while the victims were mostly anti-coup protesters, it had also documented killings of people not involved in the demonstrations.
The military has also shut down mobile internet connections across the country, especially nighttime internet blackout, and cut off electricity in some townships.
Myanmar’s generals also imposed martial law on nine more townships in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay on Monday, a day after security forces shot dozens of protesters demanding the restoration of the elected civilian government.
State-run TV channels MRTV and Myawaddy announced that martial law had been declared in the townships of Aungmyay Thazan, Chan Aye Thazan, Maha Aung Myay, Pyi Gyi Tagon, and Chan Mya Thazi in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.
Martial law was also declared in Yangon’s North Dagon, North Okalapa, South Dagon, and Dagon Seik Kan townships. Yangon is Myanmar’s biggest city and its commercial centre.
