(REUTERS): Myanmar activists plan fresh protests today (Monday) including a call for vehicle convoys to drive through intersections honking horns with occupants raising three-finger anti-coup salutes after weekend bloodshed.
Activists have urged the people of Myanmar on social media to join a car convoy protest to mark the one-month anniversary of the launch of one of the biggest demonstrations since the coup and a national strike.
Earlier on Sunday, one man was shot dead and several others were wounded after police opened fire on a group setting up a barricade in the central town of Monywa. Later, security forces killed one person in the country’s second city of Mandalay, when residents tried to resist efforts by the military to set up a base in a school.
At least 250 people have now been killed since the coup, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group. The violence has forced many citizens to think up novel ways to express their rejection of a return to army rule.
Protesters across the country staged candle-lit, nighttime protests over the weekend. Protesters in some places were joined by Buddhist monks holding candles and others came out later on Sunday, including in Monywa, where police opened fire.
The Southeast Asian nation has been locked in crisis since the elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 was overthrown by the military, bringing an end to 10 years of tentative democratic reform.
