Police used water cannons on anti-coup protesters in Myanmar's capital, according to witnesses.
"Police used water cannons to clear the (road)," Naypyidaw resident Kyaw Kyaw, who had joined the protest, told AFP.
A photographer also witnessed the incident, the first reported use of water cannons against protesters since rallies kicked off three days ago.
Massive crowds joined anti-coup protests across Myanmar as workers went on a nationwide strike, demanding the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of democracy.
A week after a military coup in Myanmar, a protest quickly grew from a few hundred people to more than 1,000 on Monday. Protesters in Yangon chanted, raised a three-finger salute and held placards, demanding the release of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi. https://t.co/G43dNZQ82z
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 8, 2021
"We are joining the protest to end the military dictatorship," Kyaw Kyaw said.
Rallies over the weekend were largely peaceful, but local media reported that in the southeastern city of Myawaddy, police fired warning shots in the air to disperse a group of protesters.
Thousands of anti-coup protesters marched in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon on the third day of street demonstrations against a coup a week ago in which the army detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
A group of saffron-robed monks marched in the vanguard of the protest with workers and students. They flew multicoloured Buddhist flags alongside red banners in the colour of Suu Kyi's National league for Democracy (NLD), witnesses said.
"Release Our Leaders, Respect Our Votes, Reject Military Coup," said one sign. Many protesters wore black.
Thousands of people joined anti-coup protests across Myanmar as workers went on a nationwide strike, demanding the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of democracy.
"This is a work day, but we aren't going to work even if our salary will be cut," one protester, 28-year-old garment factory worker, Hnin Thazin, told AFP.
In Myanmar's second largest city, Mandalay, more than a thousand had also gathered by mid morning.
Monks, nurses join third day of protests against Myanmar coup https://t.co/vEPHCR42zV pic.twitter.com/wTt6xUqrsx
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 8, 2021
And hundreds were seen turning out in the capital of Naypyidaw, riding around on motorbikes and honking car horns, while major rallies were also reported in other towns.
Over the weekend tens of thousands of people massed on the streets across Myanmar in the biggest protests since the coup.
Military coup
Myanmar's generals staged their putsch by detaining Suu Kyi and dozens of members of her National League for Democracy in pre-dawn raids on Monday last week.
The generals justified the coup by claiming fraud in last November's elections, which the NLD won in a landslide.
The junta has proclaimed a one-year state of emergency, and promised to then hold fresh elections, without offering any precise timeframe.
The coup has triggered widespread international condemnation, although neighbouring China has declined to criticise the generals.
US President Joe Biden has leading the calls for the generals to relinquish power.
Pope Francis on Sunday also expressed "solidarity with the people of Myanmar", urging the army to work towards "democratic coexistence".
Online calls to protest have prompted bold displays of defiance, including the nightly deafening clamour of people banging pots and pans, a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil spirits.
The surge in popular dissent over the weekend overcame a nationwide internet blockade, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the start of the coup.
As protests gathered steam, the junta also ordered telecom networks to freeze access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication.
But on Sunday, live Facebook video feeds from multiple cities continued to show protesters marching through the streets.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
