on the morning of april 9th
people in myanmar woke up to terrifying
messages flooding their social media
in the city of bago just 55 miles
northeast of yangon
a massacre was unfolding
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the military had launched a sudden and
unprecedented assault on civilians
taking part in pro-democracy protests
in just 24 hours residents say soldiers
hunted and killed more than 80 people
many of them young activists
by speaking to witnesses and examining
evidence we've pieced together how this
atrocity unfolded
even as the military government denies
it ever took place
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since february tens of thousands of
people have marched on the streets of
myanmar to protest a military coup
democratically elected leaders including
aung san tsuchi
have been arrested and charged
bago was one of the many centers where
demonstrations were raging
activists had taken over the east side
of the city barricading major roads to
keep security forces out
and create a safe zone that is where
theory lived
we've changed her name to protect her
identity
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away
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the barricades stretched for dozens of
blocks
they were built at each cross street as
well as on puna su
and sunda twin roads myoko was one of
the protest organizers guarding this
safe zone
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this civilian controlled safe zone was a
major threat to the military's power
on april 8th protesters noticed a
suspicious drone flying over their
barricades
and the internet was suddenly blocked
during the day
they knew something was up
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here
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and his friends spent the night guarding
barricade number seven on magadeed road
others protected barricades 1 3
6 and 13 and barricades on sunda twin
road and on a cross street
then they waited it was almost dawn
when suddenly
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soldiers stormed the barricades with
rifle grenades and live ammunition
this wasn't an ordinary clearing
operation it was a full-scale assault
barricades one to three were overrun
within minutes
just south on sunda twin road another
military unit was surging towards
protesters
as the sun rose over the city protesters
on magdeep road were trying to defend
themselves with homemade air guns
slingshots and fireworks
found themselves trapped between
barricades six and thirteen
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in the chaos some protesters managed to
escape through the alleyways
with little effort the army had taken
over magate road
soldiers then moved east to sunda twin
road to reinforce units attacking
protesters there
that's where another protest organizer k
was trapped
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in
in just over an hour the last barricade
on sundar twin road fell
the military had full control of the
city
but while the operation was over the
bloodshed was just beginning
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soldiers fanned across the neighborhood
going door to door
hunting for terrified protesters
those who had survived the initial
attack were either on the run or in
hiding
soldiers blocked the roads even
ambulances weren't allowed in
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through the fields with a few others
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the military was cleaning up residents
reported seeing soldiers stack dozens of
bodies at this buddhist temple near
magdadeed road
they said the injured were slumped over
the dead
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by the next morning most of the bodies
had disappeared
along with much of the evidence of the
military's massacre
only three bodies of victims were
recovered by families
but people collected the shells and
remnants of rifle grenades and automatic
weapons fired by
soldiers these are known to be used by
the myanmar military to fight rebels in
active combat zones in the jungle
but here they were used to kill unarmed
protesters
and terrorize a city that had risen up
against the junta
the message to the people of myanmar was
chilling if you rise up against the army
you will pay local human rights
organizations have confirmed that on
april 9th
82 people were killed but the military
says there was only one death
and it's blamed the violence on
protesters
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foreign
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