Anti-coup protesters burn tires and chant slogans with banner read ”The Kamayut strike will be fight for to the end when we get victory” during the demonstration against the military coup in Kamayut township Yangon, Monday, May 3, 2021. (AP Photo)
May 3 – The day saw demonstrations around the country, praising journalists who are still actively reporting news, despite arrests and other restrictions on news media. Protests were met with lethal crackdowns and more arrests, amidst reports of bomb blasts, without a confirmed number of injuries.
(Daily round-up of the latest events in Myanmar by Thai PBS World correspondent David Tun.)
Five people, including a former-NLD MP in Bago Region, were killed by a parcel bomb. A package sent to a house containing four police CDM participants, and the house’s owner, MP Thet Win Hlaing, exploded. Three died immediately and 2 more died on their way to the hospital.
As clashes continue in ethnic states, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) managed to shoot down a military helicopter in Momauk, triggering retaliation by the military on nearby areas, injuring a monk and 10 others in the nearby Kone Law village. The KIA said that three soldiers, including the helicopter pilot, died in the crash, while soldiers, who participate in the CDM, claim on Facebook that the helicopter was one of the approximately 10 Mi-35P Assault Helicopters that the military owns.
One former military officer also claimed that the KIA shot the helicopter down with a Type 85 AA heavy machine gun, using 12.7mm rounds. Unconfirmed sources also report that more than 600 soldiers have been sent to the nearby city, to support efforts to reclaim the strategic base, which the KIA seized last month. Many infantrymen have reportedly fallen in battles, trying to take back the base, resulting in the military conducting more airstrikes.
The AAPP reports that 766 civilians have been killed as of May 3rd.