Myanmar police charge at student protesters with batons

Student protesters who have been staging a sit-in since March 3, try to push through police blockade in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of the country's main city Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday March 10, 2015. Hundreds of police in Myanmar have charged student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they drag them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the town of Letpadan. Witnesses say many of the demonstrators were injured in Tuesday's crackdown, though it was not clear how badly. AP/Khin Maung Win

LETPADAN, Myanmar — Hundreds of police in Myanmar have charged student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they drag them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the town of Letpadan.

Witnesses say many of the demonstrators were injured in Tuesday's crackdown, though it was not clear how badly.

Police also chased journalists, scattering them in all directions.

The clash comes after student protesters started a sit-in on a road near a monastery in Letpadan last week when authorities prevented them from marching to Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) to the south.

The demonstrators want the government to scrap a newly passed education law that they say curbs academic freedom.

Show comments