90 PEOPLE KILLED BY MAYANMAR ARMED FORCES IN DEADLIST DAY SINCE FEBRUARY 1

 More than 90 people were killed across Myanmar by security forces on Saturday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, said news reports quoting witnesses. 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.

State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot “in the head and back”. Despite this, demonstrators against the February 1 coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns. The Myanmar Now news portal said 91 people were killed across the country by security forces.

The killings quickly drew international condemnation, with multiple diplomatic missions to Myanmar releasing statements that mentioned the killing of civilians Saturday, including children. This 76th Myanmar Armed Forces Day will stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour, the European Union’s delegation to Myanmar said on Twitter. The killing of unarmed civilians, including children, are indefensible acts.”

The death toll in Myanmar has been steadily rising as authorities grow more forceful with their suppression of opposition to the February 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. Up through Friday, the Association of Political Prisoners had verified 328 people killed in the post-coup crackdown.

Junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing did not directly refer to the protest movement when he gave his nationally televised Armed Forces Day speech before thousands of soldiers in Naypyitaw. He referred only to terrorism, which can be harmful to state tranquility and social security, and called it unacceptable.