![\"Army-fires-at-funeral-as-Myanmar-mourns-day-of-mass-murder-rapidnews\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Army-fires-at-funeral-as-Myanmar-mourns-day-of-mass-murder-rapidnews.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMyanmar security forces have opened fire on people gathered for the funeral of one 114 people killed on Saturday in the\u00a0bloodiest day\u00a0since the February 1 coup, as the defence chiefs of 12 countries condemned the military for its deadly crackdown on demonstrators.<\/p>\n
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the shooting at the funeral on Sunday in the town of Bago, near the commercial capital Yangon, according to three people who spoke to Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us,\u201d said a woman called Aye, who was at the service for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old student who was shot on Saturday. \u201cPeople, including us, run away as they opened fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two people were killed in firing on protests on Sunday in separate incidents elsewhere, witnesses and news reports said. One person was killed when troops opened fire overnight on a group of protesters near the capital Naypyidaw, Myanmar Now news reported.<\/p>\n
So far on Sunday there were no reports of large-scale protests in Yangon or in the country\u2019s second city, Mandalay, which bore the brunt of the casualties on Saturday, Myanmar\u2019s Armed Forces Day. Funerals were held in many places.<\/p>\n
At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday, according to news reports and witnesses.<\/p>\n
The United States, United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea signed a joint statement on Sunday denouncing the military\u2019s crackdown.<\/p>\n
![\"Army-fires-at-funeral-as-Myanmar-mourns-day-of-mass-murder-rapidnews\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Army-fires-at-funeral-as-Myanmar-mourns-day-of-mass-murder-rapidnews-dailyrapidnews.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cA professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting \u2013 not harming \u2013 the people it serves,\u201d the defence chiefs said. \u201cWe urge the Myanmar armed forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other countries that signed the statement were Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Several funerals were held on Sunday for some of the victims of the crackdown. In Mandalay, the family of Aye Ko, a father-of-four, commemorated his life at a service after he was killed overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are told by the neighbours that Aye Ko was shot and thrown into the fire,\u201d a relative told AFP news agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the only one who fed the family, losing him is a great loss for the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN), one of the main protest groups, paid tribute to those who died, saying in a Facebook post: \u201cWe salute our heroes who sacrificed lives during this revolution\u201d. It added, \u201cWe Must Win This REVOLUTION.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday had also brought some of the heaviest fighting since the coup between the army and the ethnic armed groups that control swaths of the country.<\/p>\n
Military jets killed at least three people in a raid on a village controlled by an armed group from the Karen minority, a civil society group said on Sunday, after the Karen National Union faction earlier said it had overrun an army post near the Thai border, killing 10 people.<\/p>\n
The air raids sent villagers fleeing into the jungle.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate comment from the Myanmar military.<\/p>\n
The violence came as the military staged a major show of might for its annual Armed Forces Day.<\/p>\n
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader, said during a parade in Naypyidaw that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. The general deposed Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s elected government, alleging fraud in an election that returned her National League for Democracy to power last November.<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s delegation to Myanmar said that the 76th Myanmar Armed Forces Day \u201cwill stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe killing of unarmed civilians, including children, are indefensible acts,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
US Ambassador Thomas Vajda in a statement said \u201csecurity forces are murdering unarmed civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not the actions of a professional military or police force,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMyanmar\u2019s people have spoken clearly: they do not want to live under military rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separately, the US Embassy said shots were fired Saturday at its cultural centre in Yangon, though no one was wounded.<\/p>\n
UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said it was time for the world to take action \u2013 if not through the UN Security Council then through an international emergency summit. He said the military government should be cut off from funding, such as oil and gas revenues, and from access to weapons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWords of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThe people of Myanmar need the world\u2019s support. Words are not enough. It is past time for robust, coordinated action.\u201d<\/p>\n
The death toll in Myanmar has been steadily rising as authorities grow more forceful in suppressing opposition to the February 1 coup.<\/p>\n
Up through Friday, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, a monitoring group, said it has verified 328 deaths in the post-coup crackdown. More than 2,400 people are in detention, it said.<\/p>\n
The Myanmar Now news portal said the 114 killed on Saturday included a 13-year-old girl in Myanmar\u2019s second city of Mandalay and a 13-year-old boy in the central Sagaing region.<\/p>\n
At least 40 were killed in Mandalay and at least 27 were killed in the commercial hub of Yangon, it said.<\/p>\n
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Saturday\u2019s events showed that the military, known in Myanmar as the Tatmadaw, should be prosecuted in international courts of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a day of suffering and mourning for the Burmese people, who have paid for the Tatmadaw\u2019s arrogance and greed with their lives, time and time again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Myanmar security forces have opened fire on people gathered for the funeral of one 114<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n