Today there was a great deal of bloodshed in my homeland. At least 12 people had been killed and more than 50 wounded in a violent crackdown by rebels in Yangon’s countryside, North Okkalapa Township. The rebels had been cracking down on peaceful protested youths in Yangon since February 27.
These Youths also protested as the solid defense in places like Hledan and Myay-ni-gone; downtown areas. There were also deaths in those areas. After a few days, the people of North Okkalapa, fearing that they would not be able to stand it, organized a peaceful protest as the solid defense in places their township. It meant separating the rebel group from the city. Today, in North Okkalapa, the main road of the township was closed and the movement began.
The army and police came down at around 10 am to crack down. As the majority of the population stood in there, their crack down was not very effective. At noon, the township main roads were closed for fear of more military vehicles. The streets were repeatedly blocked by the public. Just in the morning, two of our comrades were killed. At first, on three o’clock in the evening, about 20 military vehicles, named the 77th Brigade, disembarked and resorted to violence.
The captured civilians were shot dead in front of their eyes. A volunteer ambulance was loaded with guns, and the volunteering youths in the car were beaten, stoned and taken to prison. Worst of all, as they were about to withdraw, they fired indiscriminately at innocent civilians with machine guns. The shooting killed at least 10 other comrades. The emergency department at North Okkalapa Hospital was overcrowded due to the large number of injured.
It was the deadliest township on record since the February 1 coup. The death toll was high today in other cities across the country. The girl who died in Mandalay was only 19 years old. The country’s buds were slowly being swallowed up by the dictatorial terrorist group. We needed to get out quickly.
