As evening fell, armoured vehicles were seen in the commercial capital of Yangon for the first time since the Feb 1 coup. The US embassy in the country urged American citizens to “shelter in place”, citing reports of the military movements.
Trains in parts of the country stopped running after staff refused to go to work, local media reported, while the military deployed soldiers to power plants where they were confronted by angry crowds.
A civil disobedience movement has sprung up to protest against the coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. It started with doctors, but now affects a swathe of government departments.
The junta ordered civil servants to go back to work, threatening action. The army have been carrying out nightly mass arrests and on Saturday gave themselves sweeping powers to detain people and search private property.
But hundreds of railway workers joined demonstrations in Yangon on Sunday, even as police went to their housing compound on the outskirts of the city to order them back to work. The police were forced to leave after angry crowds gathered, according to a live broadcast by Myanmar Now.
Soldiers were deployed to power plants in the northern Kachin state, leading to a confrontation with protesters who said they believed they intended to cut off the electricity to carry out nightly arrests.
“The military tried to control the electricity power sources since yesterday,” said Awng Kham, a local politician. “They might be able to control the power during the night while they are doing their business at night.”
As night fell, soldiers fired water cannon to disperse protesters outside one plant in the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina, a Facebook live broadcast, filmed by a local media outlet and seen by Reuters, showed. One soldier shouted “arrest them all” before the broadcast ended.
Several power departments in Yangon said in Facebook posts they would refuse to cut the power and expressed support for the protesters. “Our duty is to give electricity, not to cut,” said one staffer, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, adding that some colleagues were participating in the strike.
The government and army could not be reached for comment.