At least four people were killed as the junta’s armed forces opened fire in the southern town of Kawthaung in Tanintharyi region on Tuesday, according to local sources.
Eight trucks carrying armed soldiers and police arrived in the town’s Shwe Zinyaw ward early in the day, before residents could gather for an anti-coup rally.
The coup regime’s forces then destroyed a makeshift barricade set up by residents of the ward and started shooting at a nearby crowd.
“They shot at the Shwe Zinyaw stronghold from all directions,” a local resident told Myanmar Now.
Two people—30-year-old Min Ko and 22-year-old Kyaw Thura—were killed in the crackdown.
“We were looking ahead, staying behind sandbags. Then we heard gunfire and one person was shot,” the resident said, referring to Min Ko.
“We ran away thinking that they were shooting at us with sniper fire. We couldn’t go back for the wounded because they were shooting at anyone who tried to get to the body,” he added.
The junta’s forces fired not only at people living in the area, but also at passersby, residents said.
Later in the afternoon, soldiers started roaming around the town, pursuing people who had come out to distract them from the crackdown on the Shwe Zinyaw ward residents.
There were two confirmed deaths from this later assault, which also targeted passersby. The two fatalities were identified as 38-year-old Myo Zin and 17-year-old Nardu.
Myo Zin was shot in the right side of his chest after he left his home to buy cold drinks, and Nardu was shot in the back while riding to work on a motorbike with a friend, residents said.
The bullet penetrated Nardu’s chest and also hit his friend, who was in front of him on the motorbike, in the back, according to a local who asked not to be named due to security concerns.
A third man who was shot at least five times could not be found, and no details about his identity or condition were available at the time of reporting.
At least seven civilians were injured in the attacks on Tuesday. One of them, 37-year-old Win Ko Ko, was shot in the abdomen and is said to be in serious condition.
Five people were slain in Kawthaung on Saturday, when at least 114 people, including 11 children, were murdered in some 50 towns and cities around the country in the worst day of killing by junta forces since the military seized power on February 1.
Saturday was also Armed Forces Day, which top junta officials commemorated with a ceremony and a state dinner in Naypyitaw.
