A week after the military coup and the arrest of head of government Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese army raid Tuesday, February 9, the premises of his party in Yangon, the National League for democracy (LND), according to the political formation.

"The military dictator raided and destroyed the LND headquarters at around 9:30 p.m." (3 p.m. GMT), the party said on its Facebook page.

The brief statement gave no further details.

The raid came as protests were held for the fourth day in a row on Tuesday, despite warnings from the junta.

These protests in several towns were quelled with water cannons and fire from rubber bullets.

The UN on Tuesday condemned the "disproportionate" and "unacceptable" use of force.

"Many protesters have been injured, some seriously," according to reports received from several cities in the country, said in a statement Ola Almgren, United Nations resident coordinator in Burma. 

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, for his part evoked the adoption of new sanctions against the Burmese army: "We are reviewing all our options", he told MEPs, stressing, however, that these targeted measures should not strike the population.

The United States also denounced Tuesday the use of force against demonstrators through the voice of the spokesman for American diplomacy, Ned Price: "We renew our calls for the army to relinquish power, restore the democratically elected government, release those detained, lift all communications restrictions and refrain from (using) violence, "Ned Price continued.

Reprisals for several demonstrations by the army

It was at this stage impossible to obtain an estimate of the number of injured from hospitals.

But the tension rose a notch Tuesday, the army having threatened the protesters with reprisals the day before.

In Naypyidaw, the capital built by the junta in the heart of the jungle, "the police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators", according to a resident.

A doctor said the soldiers also fired live ammunition, judging from the injuries sustained by two young men who were hospitalized in critical condition.

"We believe these are live ammunition," said the doctor.

"My son was shot at, trying to use a megaphone to ask people to demonstrate peacefully," said the father of one of the injured, Tun Wai, a 56-year-old silversmith. 

In Mandalay, the country's second city, police fired tear gas at protesters waving NLD flags.

Authorities have banned gatherings of more than five people in Rangoon, Napypidaw and other towns since Monday evening.

A curfew was declared and the demonstrators dispersed in the early evening.

Braving threats, protesters took to the streets again on Tuesday, although crowds were smaller than in previous days.

"Free and fair" elections a year from now?

"No dictatorship!", "We want our leader!"

- Aung San Suu Kyi, held incommunicado since her arrest on February 1 - could be read during the day on banners brandished by protesters near the LND headquarters in Yangon.

In another part of town, dozens of teachers marched, saluting with three fingers in resistance.

"We are worried" but "we are more worried about the future of our children," said Khin Thida Nyein, a teacher.

In recent days, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have marched across the country, demanding the release of those detained, the end of the dictatorship and the abolition of the 2008 constitution, which is very favorable to the army.

This wind of protest is unprecedented since the popular uprising of 2007, the "Saffron Revolution" led by the monks and violently suppressed by the military.

The risk of repression is real in the country, which has already lived for almost 50 years under the yoke of the military since its independence in 1948.

Since February 1, more than 150 people - deputies, local officials, activists - have been arrested and are still in detention, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, based in Yangon.

Army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing spoke for the first time Monday evening on the army's Myawaddy TV channel.

He pledged to "hold free and fair elections" at the end of the one-year state of emergency and promised a military regime "different" from previous ones.

Fear of loss of influence of the army

The February 1 coup put an end to a brief decade-long democratic parenthesis.

The army disputes the regularity of the legislative elections of November, won overwhelmingly by the LND.

But international observers did not notice any major problems during the poll.

In reality, the generals feared that their influence would diminish after the victory of Aung San Suu Kyi, who might have wanted to change the Constitution.

Very recently criticized by the international community for her passivity during the abuses against Rohingya Muslims, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, under house arrest for 15 years for her opposition to the junta, remains adored in her country.

The former leader would be "in good health", under house arrest in Naypyidaw, according to her party.

The coup has been condemned by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and many other countries.

New Zealand has announced the suspension of its high-level military and political contacts with Burma, becoming the first country to decide on junta isolation.

The UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on these events on Friday.

The United Nations Security Council has called for the release of the detainees.

With AFP

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