in Bago, one of Myanmar's ancient capitals, heavily armed troops mounted an assault on demonstrators barricaded in along Ma Ga Dit and San Taw Din roads on the east side of town.
The shooting finally paused around 10 p.m. with at least 83 people dead, said local news organization Myanmar Now. Troops had reportedly dragged 57 bodies into the Zeyar Muni pagoda compound and a school, ignoring exhortations from monks to provide medical attention to the wounded. Some, seriously wounded but still alive, could be heard moaning among the corpses.
The same morning, a military tribunal in Yangon sentenced 19 people to death for killing a single soldier -- 17 in absentia.
Troops have been filmed shooting randomly into houses, at least 46 children have died, and more than 3,000 activists and civil society leaders have been detained. By Monday, over 700 people in total had been killed around the country by armed troops and police, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The regime's tally on Friday was 248.
"Everybody is going into the streets because we are on the edge and about to fall, so we need to save ourselves," said Thinzar Shulei Yi, a Burmese activist currently in hiding, to digital news group New Naratif. "The people have realized that we are our only saviors."
Many experts see the country in a deadly spiral. They voice fears of another Syria -- even though no other countries are so far involved in the country's implosion.
