Myanmar military conducts violent night raids

Myanmar’s military overnight Saturday conducted violent raids throughout the country’s largest city of Yangon amid ongoing protests following last month’s military-led coup. 

Reuters reported that local residents said the military late Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday local time stormed and fired several shots into crowds of demonstrators in several districts throughout the city. 

Residents told Reuters that at least three people were arrested in Kyauktada Township, though the reason for the arrests was unknown. 

The newswire noted that a member of the now-dissolved parliament, Sithu Maung, said in a Facebook post that soldiers were looking for a lawyer who worked for detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, but forces did not locate him. 

Reuters reported that it was unable to reach Myanmar police for comment, and a spokesperson for the military junta did not respond to requests for comment. 

Despite the overnight crackdowns, Reuters noted that tens of thousands of people returned to the streets across Myanmar Sunday to continue their protests against the military, which last month took Suu Kyi into custody and declared a yearlong state of emergency. 

The military attempted to justify the coup by arguing that last year’s November election, in which Suu Kyi’s party had massive wins, was invalidated by widespread fraud. The country’s election commission has refuted this claim. 

The United Nations said Friday that security forces in Myanmar have killed more than 50 people during the ongoing protests, with approximately 1,000 detained or unaccounted for. 

The country had its deadliest day of protests on Wednesday, with at least 38 people killed by security forces, though anti-coup protesters returned to the streets Thursday to continue to vocalize their opposition. 

President Biden has imposed multiple sanctions against generals in the nation, their families and businesses tied to the military, and the United Kingdom and Canada have also imposed sanctions against the generals in response to its military crackdown on protesters.