The coup regime’s forces murdered three teenage boys as they attacked anti-military protesters in the town of Myingyan in Mandalay region on Monday, a doctor and residents said.
Yan Myo Aung, 16, Aung Myo Zaw, 17, and Tun Ye Naing, 18, were among six people killed in the town and at least 20 fatalities nationwide that day. The other victims from Myingyan were Hla Soe, 53, Yadanar Htoon, 20, and Kyaw Saw, 26.
Three of the six were confirmed dead on Monday afternoon and another one passed away in the evening at a makeshift outdoors clinic, where doctors on strike from government hospitals were attending to wounded protesters.
Two more were added to the list of fatalities later in the evening, when the junta’s forces told their family members to come and retrieve the bodies from the Myingyan Hospital.
“I think two injured people that the military had taken to the hospital died on the spot,” a doctor told Myanmar Now. “One was shot in the head and another one was shot in the left side of the chest. I think the soldiers took the bullets out [of their bodies].”
Myingyan Hospital had been closed because medical staff there joined the Civil Disobedience Movement but it has now been taken over by police and soldiers, the doctor added.
Just four nurses and one military doctor are working at the hospital, and no patients go there anymore because the entrance is guarded by armed forces, the doctor added.
At least another 17 people were injured in Monday’s crackdown in Myingyan, and five of those are in critical conditions, said another doctor.
Yan Myo Aung, the 16-year-old who died, had just finished high school last year and was living with his mother, residents said.
His mother had been unable to stop him from participating in anti-coup protests because he was so passionate about doing so, a resident who went to his funeral told Myanmar Now.
Aung Myo Zaw had finished 10th grade and was looking forward to the Covid-19 pandemic ending and schools reopening. He was the youngest in a family of seven, all of whom have been participating in anti-coup demonstrations, a relative said.
Tun Ye Naing was one of the breadwinners in his family and worked delivering cheroots – traditional cigarettes – to local traders, one of his neighbours said.
A protester who was with him at Monday’s rally said he had heard from others who witnessed the killing that a member of the junta’s forces hit Tun Ye Naing’s head against a wall after he was shot and told him he was hard to kill before dragging him away.
“I don’t know if it’s true but there was a blood stain on the wall,” the protester said. “We didn’t see exactly what happened because we were running. We only saw that he was taken away on a truck.”
He was brought to the Myingyan Hospital and his family members retrieved his body at around 7:30pm with the help of charity organizations.
Yadanar Htoon, the 20-year-old victim, is survived by a 3-year-old son and her husband.
Hla Soe, meanwhile, was not participating in the protest when he was killed. He was a vendor and was shot as he tried to close the window of his shop after hearing gunshots, a local resident said.
During the attack, the junta’s forces fired continuously, making it impossible for rescuers and protesters to carry away wounded people. Vehicles being used in the rescue effort were shot at, residents said.
The junta’s forces also shot at the houses of residents who helped rescue injured protestors.
According to estimates by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 183 people have been killed nationwide since the uprising against the coup began.
The coup regime has also arrested, charged or sentenced more than 2,100 people so far, the association said.
