Myanmar security forces killed at least 12 people, witnesses and media reported, as the acting leader of a parallel civilian government vowed in a first public address on Saturday to pursue a "revolution" to overturn the Feb. 1 military coup, Reuters reports.
Five people were shot dead and several injured when police opened fire on Mandalay's sit-in protest, Myanmar's second-biggest city, witnesses told Reuters.
Another person was killed in the central town of Pyay, and two died in police firing in the commercial capital Yangon, where three were also killed overnight, domestic media reported.
"They are acting like they are in a war zone, with unarmed people," said Mandalay-based activist Myat Thu. He said the dead included a 13-year-old child.
Si Thu Tun, another protester, said he saw two people shot, including a Buddhist monk. "One of them was hit in the pubic bone; another was shot to death terribly," he said.
In Pyay, a witness said security forces initially stopped an ambulance from reaching those who were injured, leading to one death.
A truck driver in Chauk, a town in the central Magwe Region, also died after being shot in the chest by police, a family friend said.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer phone calls from Reuters seeking comment. Junta-run media MRTV's evening news broadcast labeled the protesters as "criminals" but did not elaborate.
More than 70 people have been killed in Myanmar in widespread protests against the military's seizure of power, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group has said.
