Myanmar activists planned more anti-coup protests on Wednesday, including a silent strike, after a seven-year-old was killed in her home when security forces opened fire in Mandalay.
Pro-democracy protesters held more candlelit vigils overnight including in the commercial capital Yangon and in Thahton in Mon state.
The vigils came after staff at a funeral service in Mandalay told Reuters on Tuesday that the girl died of bullet wounds – the youngest victim so far in a crackdown on opposition to the February 1 coup.
Soldiers shot at her father but hit the child who was sitting on his lap inside their home, her sister told the Myanmar Now media outlet. Two men were also killed in the district, it said.
The military had no comment on the incident.
In what has now often become a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with security forces during street protests, pro-democracy activists switched tactics and planned to hold a silent strike on Wednesday.
“No going out, no shops, no working. All shut down. Just for one day,” Nobel Aung, an illustrator and activist, told Reuters.
Social media posts and media indicated businesses from ride hailers to pharmacies planned to close.
The junta has faced international condemnation for staging the coup that halted Myanmar’s slow transition to democracy and for its lethal suppression of the protests that followed.
It has tried to justify the takeover by saying a November 8 election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was fraudulent, an accusation the electoral commission has rejected.
Military leaders promised a new election but have not set a date and declared a state of emergency.
Aung San Suu Kyi's court hearing
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Tuesday 164 protesters had been killed and expressed sadness at the deaths, a day after the EU and the US imposed more sanctions on groups or individuals linked to the coup.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said at least 275 people have been killed by security forces.
Zaw Min Tun blamed the bloodshed on the protesters and said nine members of the security forces had been also killed.
He said strikes and hospitals not fully operating had caused deaths, including from the coronavirus, calling them “undutiful and unethical”.
Opponents of military rule have regularly called for strikes and also a civil disobedience campaign, including among civil servants, that has paralysed parts of the economy.
The junta spokesman also accused the media of reporting fake news and fanning unrest and said reporters could be prosecuted if they were in contact with the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, as the remnants of Ms Suu Kyi’s government is known.
The military has declared the CRPH an illegal organisation and said membership was punishable by death.
He also gave details that he said showed how the NLD had created hundreds or even thousands of extra ballots by inventing voters, including in Ms Suu Kyi’s own constituency.
The NLD has denied making any attempt to rig the election.
Also shown at the junta news conference was video testimony of former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein saying he visited Ms Suu Kyi multiple times and gave her money “whenever needed”.
Ms Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign to bring democratic civilian rule to Myanmar, has been in detention since the coup and faces charges that her lawyer said were intended to discredit her.
She is scheduled to appear for another court hearing by video on Wednesday after one was adjourned because of internet problems.
