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The blasts rocked Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, on a night of demonstrations in support of the pro-democracy march and candlelight, challenging the savage military leadership that has taken power for three bloody months.
The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, ending Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy.
The seizure of power caused a tremendous uprising, with authorities trying to appease the deadly force and live ammunition.
As Myanmar entered its fourth month on Saturday, rapid demonstrations took place in the Yangon shopping center (the epicenter of the high security presence) as they marched through the streets to avoid confrontation with police and soldiers.
The lightning of protests is swift “so that people have time to disappear when security forces come, or else they will be killed or arrested,” said student activist Min Han Htet.
Protests to light the candles also took place late Saturday, according to what was posted on social media on Sunday morning.
In Insein Township, Yangon, a bomb blast occurred around 10:00 a.m. Saturday (03:30 GMT) near a local school, a resident nearby said.
“Some security forces came to check the blast area, but I could only see it from a distance from home because I was worried that they would arrest me,” he told AFP.
By the afternoon, two more explosions had occurred in the Yankee, further south, according to people living in a high-rise municipality.
“I thought it was thunder,” a neighbor told the AFP news agency, adding that the blasts had left security forces nervous.
A woman was injured in the Yankee blasts on state evening news, and was blamed on “instigators.”
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings that are taking place in Yangon more frequently.
Residents of Mandalay held a rally against the regime on Saturday, raising a three-fingered salute and demanding the release of prisoners arrested by the junta. #WhatsHappeninglnMyanmar pic.twitter.com/NUAEtmhFYw
– Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) May 1, 2021
‘People were encouraged to live in fear’
The former capital has been completely transformed since the military took power on February 1, barricades were erected at major protest sites, security forces on patrol and neighbors reported nightly arrests of alleged dissidents.
“They (the military) have caused people to live in fear and it’s good to have them on the border as well,” a Yankee neighbor said.
Flash protesters also praised the fact that they were invented to prevent arrest and repression.
“It’s a great show of challenge without being caught or killed for resistance.”
Across the country, nearly 760 civilians have been killed in riots, according to a local monitoring group, although the death toll from the military is much lower. The security forces also allegedly took thousands.
In Yangon, messages from social networks of security forces have led people, including children, to leave their homes. They also searched a Yangon orphanage run by the Christian Salvation Army, although it was not clear whether the women and teachers at the center were arrested.
Al Jazeera could not verify the messages independently.
But the democracy movement continues, with protesters gathering on Saturday in the center of the city of Monywa – the point against violence – carrying signs saying “Monywa cannot be ruled”.
In the south of Dawei, protesters signed the red flags of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party and carried signs saying “We want democracy”.
Mandatory posters of the head of the main military government, Min Aung Hlaing, were also pasted throughout the town, calling it a “dependence on power”.
He has consistently justified the need to protect democracy, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide in a landslide election in November.
Fighting rebels
The ongoing violence against protesters has angered many of Myanmar’s ethnic armies, many of whom have been fighting the military for decades in border regions.
Several have condemned the military and have come out in support of the anti-coup movement, offering refuge to fugitive activists in the territory they control.
The clashes between the military and Karen National Union (KNU), one of the main rebel groups, have escalated since the coup.
The UN has hijacked and destroyed military posts and the military has repeatedly responded with airstrikes to the heart of the rebel-held Karen state – the latest of which happened just past midnight on Saturday.
The targeted area is near the northern province of Mae Hong Son in Thailand, and displaced residents have fled across the Salween River, which borders the border.
“Myanmar soldiers used an aircraft carrier to launch an air attack operation, firing two rockets and artillery at around 12:48 a.m. (18:18 GMT on Friday), according to a document released by Governor Mae Hong Son by Sithichai Jindaluang.
He added that more than 2,300 Myanmar residents have moved to Thailand.
The media and local Karen support groups blocked access to the refugees, citing the authorities ’deployment of COVID-19 as a reason to stop checking the temperature of the locals returning home.
Violence has also erupted in Kachin state in northern Myanmar between the Kachin Independence Army and the army, which launched airstrikes in Momau municipality on Friday.
New artillery was fired on Saturday in two small towns, according to a humanitarian worker, who said neighbors were afraid the fighting would approach.
Protesters hold banners in protest against military coup in Yangon Insein town on Saturday [Stringer/AFP]
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