Nine dead in Burmese clampdown
Updated on 27 September 2007
'Leave the streets - or be shot'. Burmese troops carried out their earlier warning, leaving nine people dead.
Without the mass murder of two decades ago, the Burmese military may just be beginning to contain the nationwide protest against their illegal government.
But the generals are deploying everything else short of mass murder to do so. Nevertheless they have killed eight Monks and a Japanese photographer in the country's biggest uprising for 20 years.
Bodies in ditches
Witnesses said their bodies were tossed into ditches, as troops moved in to clear the streets of central Rangoon. State television said another 11 people were wounded.
Hundreds of monks had already been rounded up overnight as soldiers raided their monasteries. Many were kicked and punched as they were forced into trucks.
Cross-country protests
There have been demonstrations across Myanmar today, with reports of a big protest in the northwest coastal town of Sittwe.
About 6,000 monks also reportedly took to the streets of Mandalay, according to exiled activists and there have been incidents in Pakokku and Moulmein.
Rangoon central hub
However, the focus remains in the country's main city of Rangoon, where at least nine people have died following clashes with the military.
One of those was a Japanese photographer who was shot dead when soldiers opened fire on Sule Pagoda Road to disperse protesters.
They regrouped at Eastern Race Course Road, but soldiers fired into the crowd and also drove a military truck into protesters. Three people reportedly died here.
Another focus of protests was outside the Traders Hotel where hundreds of protesters stopped a truck carrying bricks and threw them at police lines.
International calls
The horrors in Burma have prompted worldwide condemnation and calls for further action.
Tonight the US said it was imposing economic sanctions against 14 top government officials, but the West has isolated the generals for years with little effect - and Burma's neighbours inisist engagment rather than punitive measures are the way forward.
Global sanctions: helpful or hurtful?
The US revealed its plans to tighten economic sanctions and visa restrictions against the regime, adding to the trade and arms embargoes already in place.
The EU has lesser sanctions, including a travel ban on members of the junta, but France's decision to pull its investments suggests a tougher stance is likely.
But Burma's neighbours take a different position. China and India insist their significant investments in the country benefit the Burmese people - and all the major Asian powers trade significantly with the regime.
