MYANMAR JUNTA KILLS AT LEAST 11 PROTESTERS

At least 11 people were killed and several others injured on Friday and Saturday in an ongoing crackdown by Myanmar's military on protesters denouncing a coup, local media and witnesses reported, Bo Han and Angelika Engler reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

In the former capital and biggest city, Yangon, three people were killed when security forces cracked down on demonstrators in several parts of the city late on Friday, local journalists told dpa early on Saturday.

Witnesses said police officers smashed cars and local businesses, threatened civilians, and detained protesters in the neighborhood of Thaketa. Three men were brutally hit after being detained, witnesses said. Protesters stood outside the police station to demand their release, but "police fired into the crowd," a witness said.

Four other demonstrators were killed on Saturday during protests in the city of Mandalay in the country's center, according to a witness and a dpa journalist. Two demonstrators were also killed in protests on Saturday in Pyay, a township located some 260 kilometers north-west of Yangon, Radio Free Asia reported. Two more were killed in Twantay, a town near Yangon, according to witnesses and media reports.

Meanwhile, the German embassy in Yangon called on the authorities in Myanmar to ensure that a detained journalist working for dpa receives "fair and humane treatment." Polish journalist Robert Bociaga was arrested by security forces in Taunggyi, in the center of Myanmar, on Thursday.

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