8 more die as army accuses Suu Kyi of accepting bribes

Rights group says Myanmar military adopting battle tactics against demonstrators; Suu Kyi accepted illegal payments worth $600,000 as well as gold while in government, says official

Myanmar’s military government on Thursday alleged that deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted illegal payments, while eight people were killed when security forces opened fire on protests against the coup, witnesses said.

Rights group Amnesty International accused the military of adopting battle tactics against demonstrators.

Six people were killed in the central town of Myaing when security forces fired on a protest, a demonstrator who helped carry bodies to hospital told reporters by telephone. A health worker there confirmed all six deaths.

“We protested peacefully,” the 31-year-old man said. “I couldn’t believe they did it.”

One person was killed in the North Dagon district of the biggest city of Yangon, witnesses said. Photographs posted on Facebook showed a man prone on the street, bleeding from a head wound. One death was reported in Mandalay.

Before Thursday’s deaths, an advocacy group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, had said more than 60 protesters were killed and about 2,000 people detained by security forces since the Feb.1 coup against Suu Kyi’s elected government.