ABOUT THE SAFRON REVOLUTION IN BURMA:
Military raids monasteries, bashes and arrests monks
Sep 27, 2007 (DVB)?About 700 monks and civilians were arrested late last night following a brutal attack by the military on at least three monasteries in Rangoon.
At the Ngway Kyar Yan Monastery in South Okkalapa township eyewitnesses described the scene of the arrests as unbelievable.
"Many spots of blood could still be seen in the morning in the monastery compound and nearby," one witness said.
Eyewitnesses said three trucks filled with soldiers arrived at the monastery at about 12:15am this morning. When the monks refused the soldiers' demand to open the gate, a fight broke out in which both sides hurled bricks at each other for about 20 minutes.
The soldiers eventually crashed through the gate with one of the trucks and used bamboo sticks to beat everyone in the monastery, including monks, laymen, women and children, some of whom were related to or were under the care of the head abbot, or sayadaw.
One witness said the soldiers shouted "harsh, abusive words" at the monks while they were beating them. One monk who had tried to warn the monastery of the soldiers' approach was beaten unconscious as he lay on the ground.
Another witness said the soldiers were led by a two-star general who beat some of the soldiers who were reluctant to harm the monks.
The attack lasted about 90 minutes, ending when about 60 monks and 40 laypeople were tossed into waiting trucks and driven to an unknown destination.
"The army stole everything from the monastery ? cassette players, radios, money that had been donated, everything they could take," one witness said.
Among the arrestees were the second chief of the monastery, Sayadaw U Uttama, and another senior sayadaw, U Dhammadainna. However, the head sayadaw, who is a member of the State Sangamahanayaka Committee, was meditating in a hidden location in the monastery at the time of the assault and escaped arrest, as did a number of monks who were able to flee the soldiers.
People in the neighbourhood around the monastery gathered in the compound at dawn, many of them breaking into tears when they saw the devastation the military had left behind.
"It's impossible to believe that the government would brutalise the holy monks who represent our religion in this way," one bystander said.
RESIDENTS SURROUND SECURITY FORCES AT RAIDED MONASTERY
Sep 27, 2007 (DVB)?Local residents in South Okkalapa township have surrounded security forces who returned to Ngway Kyar Yan monastery to arrest the abbot following last night?s raids.
At least 130 monks were detained in the raid on the monastery, and personal belongings including robes, rice and 2,000,000 Kyat in cash were seized.
Security forces returned at around noon today to arrest the abbot and took up positions surrounding the monastery.
But hundreds of thousands of local residents, outraged by the raids, surrounded the troops, shouting anti-government slogans and demanding the immediate release of the detained monks.
?The military is surrounding the monastery and firing warning shots to disperse the crowds, but people are standing firm,? said a bystander.
The latest reports from the scene say that more people are joining the crowds.
RANGGON UNDER SIEGE
27th.September, Irrawaddy:
Rangoon was covered with gunfire smoke on Thursday as security forces and armed military troops used an iron fist to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators in the second day of the Burmese junta?s crackdown on the largest democracy uprising in 20 years.
State media reported Thursday evening that nine protesters were killed.Witnesses in Rangoon believed that the death toll would be higher.
Security forces attempted to disperse tens of thousands of people gathered near Sule Pagoda in Rangoon and South Okkalapa Township on Thursday afternoon, witnesses said. Scores of people were beaten by security forces.
Troops fired directly into protesting crowds, using automatic weapons on at least one occasion. Warning shots were also fired above the heads of protesters as an estimated 70,000 anti-government demonstrators braved the overpowering force of the troops and security forces.
Protesters were outraged at security forces following an overnight raid on at least three Buddhist monasteries. Soldiers reportedly beat up and arrested about 700 monks, who had spearheaded the largest challenge to the junta since a failed democracy uprising 19 years ago.
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