Opponents of military rule in Myanmar marched and laid bouquets of flowers on Friday while trying to find alternative ways to organize their campaign of dissent after the authorities cut off most users from the internet.
Protests have taken place almost daily since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in a crackdown by security forces that has drawn international condemnation.
On Friday, security forces opened fire at a rally near Myanmar’s second city Mandalay, wounding four people, two critically, according to three domestic media organizations.
In the town of Tamu on the Indian border, a policeman who supported the democracy movement killed five policemen in a grenade attack on a police station before soldiers killed him, Myanmar Now news portal reported.
Across the country, demonstrators left bouquets of flowers, many with messages of defiance, at places associated with activists killed by the security forces.
The authorities, who had already shut down mobile data in a bid to stifle opposition to the ruling military junta, ordered internet providers from Friday to cut wireless broadband, depriving most customers of access.
