YANGON – Protesters against last month’s military takeover in Myanmar returned to the streets in large numbers Thursday, a day after staging a “silence strike” in which people were urged to stay home and businesses to close for the day.
Security forces sought to break up some of the protests by force. Social media accounts and local news outlets reported violent attacks on demonstrators in Hpa-an, the capital of the southeastern Karen state, as well as the eastern Shan state’s capital of Taunggyi and Mon state's capital of Mawlamyine, also in the southeast.
It was not clear if soldiers used live ammunition in addition to firing rubber bullets at the demonstrators. According to Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast and online news service,