Myanmar security forces shot dead eight opponents of a Feb. 1 coup on Friday, a funeral services provider said, as Indonesia sought an end to the violence and urged that democracy be restored, in an unusually blunt call from a neighbour.
Ousted lawmakers explored whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) can investigate crimes against humanity since the coup, while authorities arrested two more journalists, including a BBC reporter, media said.
Military and police have used increasingly violent tactics to suppress demonstrations by supporters of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but that has not put off the protests, with crowds turning out again in several towns, reports bdnews24.com citing Reuters.
Security forces used teargas to disperse protesters in the central town of Aungban and later opened fire in a confrontation as they tried to clear a protesters' barricade, media and a witness reported.
"Security forces came to remove barriers but the people resisted and they fired shots," one witness, who declined to be identified, said from the town by telephone.
An official with Aungban's funerary service, who declined to be identified, told Reuters eight people were killed, seven on the spot and one who was wounded and died after being taken to hospital in the nearby town of Kalaw.
The spokesman for the junta was not immediately available for comment but has said security forces have used force only when necessary. Critics have derided that explanation.
The total number killed in weeks of unrest has risen to at least 232, according to the latest report and a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.
Police in the main city of Yangon forced people to clear protesters' barricades, residents said, while demonstrators were also out in the second city of Mandalay, the central towns of Myingyan and Katha, and Myawaddy in the east, witnesses and media reported.
