Myanmar's Military on Killing Spree against Protesters

The Myanmar military is using lethal tactics and an arsenal of battlefield weapons to carry out a killing spree against peaceful protesters who oppose the February 1 coup, Amnesty International said on Thursday after analyzing video and photographic evidence from the past few weeks of mass protests.

The cache of 55 video clips offers visual proof of the systematic and premeditated killings, Amnesty said in a report on Thursday, as it called on the UN Security Council and the international community to take action to halt the violence.

''These Myanmar military tactics are far from new but their killing sprees have never before been live-streamed for the world to see,'' said Joanne Mariner, the director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.

Amnesty's Crisis Evidence Lab verified the more than 50 videos of the ongoing crackdown and confirmed that security forces ''appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force''.

''Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions,'' the rights group said.

The footage clearly shows that Myanmar military troops, also known as the Tatmadaw, ''are increasingly armed with weapons that are only appropriate for the battlefield, not for policing actions'', the report added.

Officers were captured on video frequently seen engaging in reckless behavior, including the indiscriminate use of live ammunition in built-up areas.

The latest findings bolster a February report from Amnesty that concluded security forces deployed machine guns against peaceful protesters and shot one woman in the head during an anti-military government demonstration.

On Wednesday, police officers who fled to India told the Reuters news agency that they were instructed by the military to single out demonstrators and to shoot till they are dead.