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YANGON: Tens of thousands of people faced off against police in the centre of Myanmar's main city, witnesses said on Thursday, while warning shots were fired as demonstrations also broke out in Yangon's east.
Undeterred by a bloody crackdown Wednesday when security forces used live rounds, baton charges and tear gas in an attempt to crush nationwide anti-government protests, a huge crowd massed around Yangon's Sule Pagoda.
Mainly young people and students with about 20 Buddhist monks, they clapped their hands and sang the national anthem as they stared down dozens of armed police and soldiers who blocked their path, witnesses said.
"General Aung San would never order the military to kill the people," they yelled, referring to Myanmar's late independence hero and the father of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
The huge crowd also chanted: "May we be free of all dangers, may we be free of poverty, may there be peace in hearts and minds."
Security forces have sealed off the area immediately around the Sule Pagoda, a key rallying point in recent anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks, leaving the crowd to gather in surrounding streets.
They came despite a suffocating military presence in Yangon which followed the ruling junta's first use of force against 10 straight days of mass protests, which left at least four people dead and 100 injured.
In eastern Yangon, security forces clashed with protesters in at least three locations on Thursday, after hundreds of people rushed to protect monks who were being hauled away, witnesses told AFP.
In what appeared to be an attempt to stifle fresh demonstrations by preventing monks from reaching central Yangon, six truckloads of Buddhist clergy were taken away from a monastery in Iankin township, they said.
The witnesses said there were hundreds of demonstrators in each of the three locations and that police had threatened to open fire if they failed to disperse.
Security is tight around the nation's commercial hub Yangon, with plainclothes police and militia patrolling the streets.
Soldiers have also sealed off the Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most important shrine, and military trucks were seen riding through the city.
Most shops and businesses have closed their doors after security forces used batons, warning shots and tear gas Wednesday to try to break up protesters who regrouped and carried on with their rallies throughout the day.
- AFP/so
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