Five dead in Myanmar security forces after a car crashed into a Yangon protest

(Reuters) – At least 15 people have been killed and at least 15 arrested by security forces in a car bomb blast in Yangon on Sunday morning, local news site Myanmar Now reported.

Witnesses told Reuters that dozens were injured. Photos and videos on social media show a vehicle among the protesters and among the bodies lying on the road.

Another protest was held in Yangon in the afternoon, despite morning violence.

Although more than 1,300 people have been killed in the February 1 coup, anti-military protests continue. Scattered protests tend to be small groups, opposing the overthrow of the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule.

On Sunday, a “flash mob” protests took place in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, just minutes after witnesses began, and witnesses told Reuters that police had arrested several people.

“I played and fell in front of a truck. A soldier hit me with his rifle but defended me and threw me back. He immediately fired at me as I fled in a zigzag. Luckily I escaped,” a protester told Reuters by phone.

A civilian car occupied by the soldiers chased the crowd, two witnesses said, and they continued to arrest and beat the scattered protesters. Some were seriously injured in the head and unconscious, according to witnesses.

A spokesman for the government junta did not respond to calls for comments on Sunday.

The military says the dead protesters encouraged violence. He says he staged a coup because the November election won by Suu Kyi’s party was exchanged. The election committee rejected the statement.

Wars against ethnic minority insurgents in remote northern and eastern border regions have escalated since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates.

Suu Kyi, 76, has filed a dozen cases against her, including promoting and violating COVID-19 protocols.

He has dismissed all charges so far.