Myanmar arrests 20 more protesters

Myanmar security forces Friday arrested a group of 20 protesters as they prepared to rally outside the Yangon city hall, activists said.

The demonstrators, mostly women, were gathering to protest against a massive hike in fuel prices that has sparked three days of protests already this week.

“They were arrested before they could do anything. They had just started walking,” said an activist who witnessed the arrests.

Security forces took the protesters inside city hall, the activist added.

Dozens of people have already been arrested over protests this week, including some of the country’s most prominent pro-democracy activists.

The latest arrests came amid signs that the protests were spreading to other parts of the country.

An activist in the central town of Yenanchuang told AFP by telephone that dozens of members of the opposition National League for Democracy had staged protests on Thursday and Friday against the fuel price increase.

The fuel price hike doubled transport costs around the country, but the activist said local officials had agreed to return bus fares to their earlier levels.

“We told the authorities that we will watch the situation,” the activist said on condition of anonymity.

This week has seen the most sustained protests against the military regime in at least nine years, as activists harness public anger over the fuel price increase.