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She is the first known casualty of pro-democracy protests that have been ongoing for two weeks, following the military’s seizure of power on February 1.
Video of the incident circulated online showed a young woman suddenly falling to the ground while taking cover from a water cannon at a protest.
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Symbol of the protests
Rights group Amnesty International had previous analyzed images and footage from that week and said that they showed a police officer holding a locally made variant of an Uzi sub-machine gun. Amnesty said the images were taken from a location near the Thabyegone Roundabout, across the road from where a young woman was shot.
Amnesty said it has verified the coordinates of the image, which shows an officer holding a “Myanmar-made BA-94 or BA-93 Uzi clone.” CNN has not been able to independently verify the image.
In a news release, the head of Amnesty’s crisis evidence lab Sam Dubberley said: “The serious injuries sustained by this young woman were caused by the Myanmar police firing live ammunition directly towards peaceful protesters.”
Myanmar’s military posted on its Facebook page on February 10 that it only used anti-riot weapons at the protest near the Thabyegone Roundabout and was investigating reports that two protesters had been injured.
Mya Thweh Thweh Khine’s death sparked calls for an investigation into the use of force by Myanmar’s security forces.
Sanctions against Myanmar military
Public anger at the coup has intensified in recent days, as hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in towns, cities and villages across the country, in some of the biggest demonstrations in decades.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on three generals from Myanmar’s junta, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced.
The targeted officials are Defense Minister Gen. Mya Tun Oo; Home Affairs Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Htut; and Deputy Home Affairs Minister Lt Gen. Than Hlaing. All were sanctioned for their responsibility in serious human rights violations by the military or the Myanmar police force, Raab said.
“The UK condemns the military coup and the arbitrary detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political figures,” Raab said. “We, alongside our international allies will hold the Myanmar military to account for their violations of human rights and pursue justice for the Myanmar people.”
The three generals are an addition to another 16 individuals from the Myanmar military already targeted by UK sanctions.
CNN’s Eleanor Pickson contributed reporting.
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