Myanmar Forces Clash With Villagers in Delta Region; Media Report 20 Dead
Voice of America
Myanmar's security forces clashed Saturday with villagers armed with catapults and crossbows during a search for weapons in the Ayeyarwady River delta, and local media reported as many as 20 people had been killed.
State television news said three "terrorists" had been killed and two arrested at the village of Hlayswe as security forces went to apprehend a man accused of plotting against the state. A junta spokesman did not answer calls from Reuters to request comment on the violence at the village in the Kyonpyaw township of Ayeyarwady Region. Reuters was unable to confirm the toll independently. The army has struggled to impose control since February 1 when it overthrew the elected leader, Aug San Suu Kyi, after a decade of democratic reforms had opened up the once isolated state.
FILE - A truck is packed with crushed granite at a mining plant in Zamfara, Nigeria, April 21, 2016.
FILE - Tourists visit Roman ruins in Palmyra, Syria, on May 11, 2023. Syrian state-run media reported on Nov. 20, 2024, that a strike on the historic town killed 36 people. Syrian leaders blamed Israel.
Bannu, Pakistan
FILE - Migrants disembark at the port in Valverde at the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, on Aug. 26, 2024, after they arrived by boat from a 13-day voyage from the coast of Senegal.
A child reacts to an Unitree Go2 intelligent side-follow robot during a performance at a popular shopping district in Beijing, Nov. 17, 2024.
FILE - A convoy of army vehicles patrol the streets in Mandalay, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021.
Major General Kenneth Chigbu, deputy theatre commander of Operation Hadin Kai is shown with poses for a group photograph with Alice Loksha, left, and Fayina Ali at Army Barrack Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on November 15, 2024.
FILE - A Pakistani waits to open an internet page on a desktop in Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 19, 2024. Pakistan's top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful.
A Finnish soldier of the Karelia Brigade, one of the three Finnish Army readiness brigades, operates the K9 artillery, a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer during the NATO Exercise Dynamic Front, on November 17, 2024 near Rovaniemi, Finland.
This photo taken on November 18, 2024 shows Myanmar farmer Hla Han, 52, who lost his leg after stepping on a mine, peeling garlic outside his house in Demoso township, eastern Kayah state.
FILE - A student looks at Iran's domestically built centrifuges in an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 8, 2023. Iran has increased its supply of uranium that has been enriched to 60% purity, according to IAEA reports seen by news agencies.