At least 738 people have been killed so far in Myanmar’s military crackdown against anti-coup protesters, according to the latest figures by Assistance Association for Political Prisoners,a human rights watchdog.
In its daily briefing on Tuesday, the group said 3,261 people are under detention, 75 of them have been convicted, and arrest warrants have been issued for at least 970 others.
According to a report by local media The Irrawaddy, more than 1,500 villagers from Momauk Township in Kachin State have fled their homes following fierce fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Myanmar’s military in the previous week.
“Military tensions have been rising. Villagers decided to flee as fighting could break out at any time, including the possibility of bombing by fighter jets,” the local media quoted an administrator from one of the villages as saying.
“As some people were killed by artillery, they fled the villages. They did not have time to take any belongings. We provided what they needed, including accommodation and meals,” Reverend Seng Awng from Kachin Baptist Convention in Momauk Township told news agency Anadolu Agency.
Myanmar’s military seized power on 1 February, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. In response to the coup, civilian groups across the country launched a civil disobedience campaign with mass protests and sit-ins.
