Myanmar anti-coup protests grow as army broadens internet crackdown

Yangon, Feb 6 (AFP/APP): Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the country’s new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent.

Around 3,000 demonstrators gathered on a road near Yangon University, most holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover. “Down with the military dictatorship!” the crowd yelled, many donning red headbands — the colour associated with ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.

A large riot police contingent blocked nearby roads, with two water cannon trucks parked at the scene. Protesters left the area without confrontation but are expected to gather again in another part of the commercial capital later on Saturday. “We are here to fight for our next generation, to free them from a military dictatorship,” one woman at the rally told AFP. “We have to end it now.”

The demonstration came as Myanmar was plunged into its second nationwide internet blackout this week, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday.

Those dawn raids brought a sudden halt to Myanmar’s brief 10-year experiment with democracy, and catalysed an outpouring of fury that has migrated from social media to the streets.

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