Martial law imposed in 2 Yangon townships

Yangon, March 15 (IANS) Myanmar's military-backed State Administration Council has imposed martial law in the Hlaingthaya and Shwe Pyi Thar townships of the Yangon region, state-run media reported.The Council on Sunday authorised the commander of Yangon region to put the martial law into place, Xinhua news agency quoted the state media report as saying.The move came after some factories in the townships were burnt down, according to the report.A one-year state of emergency was declared in Myanmar and state power was transferred to Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing after President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained by the military on February 1.The coup was staged as the military alleged massive voting fraud in the 2020 general elections, which saw Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy win a majority of seats in both houses of parliament.In response to the coup, Myanmar has witnessed continued protests demanding the release of the former de facto leader and other senior officials of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party and also the restoration of the democratically elected government.A BBC report citing The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group said that at least 38 protesters were killed in Yangon on Sunday, in one the bloodiest days since the coup.In total, more than 120 protesters have reportedly been killed during the crackdown, according to the AAPP.
--IANS ksk/