100 days of Myanmar military coup; Myanmar still in turmoil 

NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar's military staged a coup and seized power in the Southeast Asian nation 100 days ago from now on May 12 (Wednesday).

The army, led by chief Min Aung Hlaing, deposed Myanmar's elected government on February 1, putting an end to a decade of shaky democratic reforms.

The military said it seized power as a result of widespread election fraud in November, despite the electoral commission's claim that the vote was free and fair.

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President Win Myint, former state counsellor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and other elected officials were suspended from office or detained, and the military proclaimed a year-long state of emergency, handing power to Min Aung Hlaing.

A civil disobedience movement of strikes and protests erupted, eventually involving hundreds of thousands of protesters on some days amid escalating police clashes.

The first protester who was shot in the head by police died on February 19 after ten days on life support.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a human rights organisation, lethal clashes between security forces and demonstrators have killed at least 780 people since then.

With 114 people killed on March 27, it was the bloodiest day since the coup.

The junta has severely restricted media freedoms, and many journalists have been arrested, therefore, Reuters is unable to confirm the death toll.

Those who attended an ASEAN meeting on April 24 in Jakarta hailed it as a victory, but analysts and activists remain skeptical that Myanmar's generals would carry out the five-point strategy, which included no timetable or mention of freeing political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

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Since Suu Kyi arrested, the ousted leader has been held at her home in Naypyitaw, where she faces a slew of charges, the most severe of which is a 14-year sentence under a colonial-era official secrets act.

Meanwhile, with a resurgence of violence between the military and ethnic minority rebels in the borderlands, and small bombings and explosions now occurring on a daily basis in Myanmar's major cities, the possibility of peace appears dim.

The junta claimed that it is battling rogue ethnic army elements and that all parties are committed to a national ceasefire.

It blamed supporters of Suu Kyi's deposed government for the recent spate of urban bombings.

The junta ordered the bombings as an excuse to crush its rivals, according to the newly established National unity government, a coalition of anti-military parties.

The United States and the European Union also condemned the coup and placed sanctions on the generals who led it, as well as some of their family members and the companies that provide them with revenue.

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