Junta Continues Crackdown in Myanmar

The latest from the Saffron Revolution is not good.

Michelle Malkin has a good round-up of what 's been happening the last 24 hours but one overriding fact appears certain; the military is determined to squash the demonstrations by any means necessary:

Shots were fired to clear crowds defying a brutal crackdown in Myanmar Friday as authorities reportedly cut Internet connections and graphic new video footage showed troops using deadly force.

A still from a video released by Myanmarese opposition shows crowds fleeing gunshots in Yangon on Thursday. Witnesses told CNN that police opened fire on crowds to disperse demonstrators resulting in fatalities.

There was no immediate way to confirm the claim. The Associated Press said soldiers clubbed activists in the streets.

A day earlier, troops with automatic rifles fired into crowds of anti-government demonstrators, reportedly killing at least nine people in the bloodiest day in more than a month of protests demanding an end to military rule.

The demonstrations today are smaller than in previous days - probably due to the intimidating nature of the crackdown.

In addition, a sniper took down a Japanese journalist who was covering the uprising. (Video here) .

The authorities have also shut down internet access - a prerequisite today if oppressors want to maintain control of the flow of information not to mention keep news of their brutality from reaching the outside world.

The Junta claims internet access is impossible because of a "damaged undersea cable."

After two days of unrest in Yangon’s streets, Myanmar’s main link to the Internet has stopped working, according to a telecom official who blamed the problem on a damaged cable.

“The Internet is not working because the underwater cable is damaged,” an official with Myanmar Post and Telecoms told AFP on condition of anonymity.

 Myanmar’s Internet service is tightly controlled and only sporadically available even in the best of times, but the military has tightened its controls amid anti-government protests.

Numerous Myanmar bloggers had been keeping the world apprised of what was going on during the crackdown, smuggling video and audio reports out of the country via the internet. Those voices have now been mostly silenced, their sites gone dark.

With troops continuing to fire into crowds, it remains to be seen how long people will stand up to such wanton slaughter. It appears that the authorities may be winning this round.

But they can't kill everybody.