A prominent ethnic insurgent group captured and burned down a military base in eastern Myanmar near the Thai border early Tuesday morning, an official from the group said.

Activists opposed to Myanmar's military junta called on people to stop paying electricity bills and agricultural loans from Monday and to keep their children away from school, raising new doubts about a bid by a regional bloc to end a post-coup crisis.

The United States on Wednesday imposed fresh Myanmar-related sanctions, targeting two state-owned enterprises in the latest in a series of punitive actions following the country’s military coup as Washington said it would take further action.

Myanmar anti-coup activists launched protests on Wednesday calling for the release of prisoners detained by the junta, as the military government declared a National Unity Government formed by its opponents was illegal.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world body and Southeast Asian countries Monday to take swift and strong action to stop the deadly crackdown that has followed the military coup in Myanmar, saying he had tried unsuccessfully to make a diplomatic visit himself.

Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing is set to join Southeast Asian leaders at a special summit in Jakarta next week, the Thai foreign ministry said Saturday, in what will be the coup leader's first official trip since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

POSCO Coated & Color Steel Co Ltd (POSCO C&C) said on Friday it will end its joint venture with Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Co Ltd (MEHL), a firm controlled by the military in Myanmar which took control of the country in February.

Myanmar security forces opened fire today on a pro-democracy protest by medical workers in the city of Mandalay, causing some casualties, media said.

The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday it fears that the military clampdown on protests in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup risks escalating into a civil conflict like that seen in Syria and appealed for a halt to the “slaughter”.

Myanmar’s detained government leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, asked a court on Monday to be allowed to meet her lawyers in person as she appeared at a hearing via video link to face charges brought by the military junta that could see her jailed for years.

An alliance of ethnic armies in Myanmar that has opposed the junta’s crackdown on anti-coup protests attacked a police station in the east today and at least 10 policemen were killed, domestic media said.

At least six lawmakers from Myanmar are sheltering in India after fleeing their country amid fears they could be detained by the military junta that seized power in a coup, an advisor to the body representing the ousted government said.

At least 11 demonstrators were killed in clashes with security forces in a town in northwest Myanmar after truckloads of troops arrived to quell a protest against the ruling military junta.

Myanmar security forces have arrested Paing Takhon, a model and actor who had spoken out against the coup, as activists placed shoes filled with flowers in parts of Yangon to commemorate dead protesters.

Myanmar’s ambassador to London told Reuters he was locked out of the embassy on Wednesday, with sources saying his deputy had shut him out of the building and taken charge on behalf of the military.

Troops in Myanmar opened fire on pro-democracy protesters, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, the latest victims of a campaign to crush opposition to the ruling military junta, activists and media said.

Attempts by Myanmar’s military to end dissent are turning to the virtual world with internet blocks and arrest warrants for online critics as big rallies become rare in the face of relentless repression by the security forces.

Myanmar’s military rulers have ordered internet service providers to shut down wireless broadband services until further notice, several telecoms sources said on Thursday.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has made urgent calls across the region to offer refuge and protection to all those fleeing Myanmar for safety amid escalating violence in the country.

Myanmar activists held protests across the country overnight two months after the military seized power, as a United Nations special envoy warned that “a bloodbath is imminent” because of the intensified crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations.