The shooting dead of a seven-year-old girl in her own home has triggered fresh outrage at Myanmar's military crackdown, with at least 20 children reported killed since the junta took charge last month.
The regime launched a brutal crackdown as it struggles to quell nationwide protests against the 1 February coup and arrest of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The 75-year-old Nobel laureate has a court hearing scheduled for today as she faces a series of criminal charges that could see her permanently barred from political office.
There was chaos overnight in Mandalay with barricades burning, arrests, homes raided by security forces, beatings and machine guns ringing out over multiple neighbourhoods, local media reported.
Three people were killed yesterday including seven-year-old Khin Myo Chit, shot dead at her home in Mandalay, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group.
Soldiers shot at her father but hit the girl who was sitting on his lap inside their home, her sister told the Myanmar Now media outlet. Two men were also killed in the district, it said.
The military had no immediate comment on the incident.
Aid group Save the Children and AAPP both say that at least 20 people aged under 18 have been killed in the crackdown.
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"We are horrified that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks on peaceful protestors," Save the Children said in a statement.
"The safety of children must be protected under all circumstances and we once again call on security forces to end these deadly attacks against protesters immediately."
Myanmar's junta freed hundreds of demonstrators today, while many businesses in Yangon remained shut and streets were deserted after anti-coup activists called for a silent strike.
Several buses full of prisoners drove out of Yangon's Insein jail, said witnesses, who included lawyers for some inmates.
There was no immediate word from authorities on how many prisoners were freed.
The junta has faced international condemnation for staging the coup that halted Myanmar's slow transition to democracy and for its lethal suppression of the protests that followed.
It has tried to justify the takeover by saying a 8 November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was fraudulent - an accusation the electoral commission has rejected.
Military leaders have promised a new election but have not set a date and have declared a state of emergency.
They has defended the seven-week crackdown, insisting it would not tolerate "anarchy".
AAPP has verified 275 deaths since the coup, but warns the toll could be higher, and says more than 2,800 people have been detained.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun put the death toll lower at 164, and branded the victims "violent terrorist people" at a news conference in the capital Naypyidaw.
Ms Suu Kyi faces several criminal charges, including for owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions by staging a campaign event in 2020.
She is also being investigated for corruption allegations.
The military junta alleges the detained chief minister of Yangon confessed to giving Suu Kyi $600,000 in cash, along with more than 11kg ($680,000 worth) of gold.
The junta has also been targeting the media.
Thein Zaw, a photographer for Associated Press, who was charged with "spreading false news" has since been freed.
