(REUTERS): Hundreds of peaceful anti-coup protesters, who had been trapped by security forces in the Sanchaung district of Yangon, have been allowed to leave the area, activists said on Tuesday.
Youth activist Shar Ya Mone said by telephone she had been in a building with about 15 to 20 others but had now been able to go home. Another protester posted on social media that they had been able to leave the area at around 5 A.M. after security forces left two hours earlier.
On Monday night, security forces had blocked around 200 people “from leaving a four-street area” in Sanchaung township in the country’s largest city, Yangon, according to the UN rights office.
It was reported that door-to-door searches were carried out, with police searching for protesters who had sought shelter in the buildings. Later, UN secretary-general, António Guterres had called for their release “without violence or arrests”.
Guterres’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said the secretary-general had been following the developments very closely, particularly in the township “where hundreds of peaceful protesters have been barricaded inside residential apartment complexes for hours”.
An international news agency reported that sharp loud bangs were heard coming from the area, although it was not immediately clear if the sounds were caused by gunfire or stun grenades.
“I just escaped from Sanchaung,” wrote Maung Saungkha, an activist, on Twitter. “Almost 200 young protesters are still blocked by the police and soldiers there. Local and international community needs to help them now,” Maung added.
The UN and embassies in Yangon – including those of the United States and former colonial power Britain – had urged security forces to free the demonstrators.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s ambassador to Britain, Kyaw Zwar Minn, called for the release of the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested along with members of her National League of Democracy government, on 1 Feburary.
