REUTERS
February 1, 2021 at 09:05 JST
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi inspects and watches the vaccination processes to health workers at a hospital, Jan. 27, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo)
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained in an early morning raid, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy said on Monday.
The move came after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the powerful military that stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of an election the army says was fraudulent.
Spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone that Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders had been "taken" in the early hours of the morning.
"I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law," he said, adding he also expected to be detained.
Phone lines to Naypyitaw, the capital, were not reachable in the early hours of Monday.
A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking comment.
An NLD lawmaker, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said another of those detained was Han Thar Myint, a member of the party's central executive committee.
Military threats, coup fears overshadow Myanmar parliament opening
January 29, 2021
Myanmar’s poll should have been delayed, says top military chief
November 9, 2020
Japan’s entry ban now covers world; anti-virus rules tightened
January 14, 2021
Anti-Myanmar hate speech flares in Thailand over virus
December 24, 2020
Myanmar leader Suu Kyi casts her vote in November elections
October 29, 2020
Ethnic identifiers in Myanmar election app criticized
October 2, 2020
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
