At least 769 killed since Myanmar coup: Rights group

JAKARTA, Indonesia

Myanmar military forces have killed six more people, taking the death toll since protests began against the Feb. 1 military coup to 769, according to a local monitoring group.

The military detained 3,677 people, with 83 of them being convicted, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said in its latest report released late Tuesday.

People in Mandalay, Yangon, and other cities continued to protest against the dictatorship, while students from various educational institutions launched a "do not go to school and drop out" campaign against the military rule, it said.

According to the statement, junta soldiers raided houses of protesting leaders in Aung Pan village of Yezakyo township, Magway region, took valuables, and threatened the entire village with similar action if they joined the protesters.

“ASEAN, in particular, needs to exert stronger pressure on Burma, the international community needs to enforce powerful action,” the group said. “Delayed responses will result in even more casualties and suffering for civilians.”

Meanwhile, local media reported that resistance fighters in Hakha, the capital of Chin state, claimed to have killed eight soldiers from the coup regime in clashes that began on Sunday.

The Chinland Defense Force, the group formed in the aftermath of the coup, attacked the junta forces and killed four soldiers on Sunday night and four more on Monday night, according to Myanmar Now.

The group was formed in early April and is made up of ethnic Chin people from nine townships in Chin state as well as from areas outside the state.

It launched an attack on Sunday after issuing a statement warning the military to release 60 detained locals, which the military did not do, the statement said.

Those who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement were threatened with death by the junta forces. “They interrogate civilians. They beat them,” the group’s spokesman was quoted by Myanmar Now as saying.

*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo with Anadolu Agency’s Indonesian language services in Jakarta