The United Nations Office for Human Rights said that Myanmar police shot protesters across the country on Sunday, killing at least 18 people, in what was described as the bloodiest day for the weeks-long demonstrations against the military coup.

Police deployed in large numbers in the morning and fired shots in various parts of Yangon, the largest city in the country, after stun grenades, tear gas and firing in the air failed to disperse the crowd.

Police received support from army soldiers.

Pictures reported by the media showed that a number of demonstrators transported the injured and that there were traces of blood on the ground.

The United Nations Human Rights Office said, "Throughout the day, and in several locations across the country, the police and army confronted the peaceful demonstrators, using lethal force and less lethal force that - according to reliable information received by the United Nations Office for Human Rights - killed at least 18 and injured more. From 30 ".

Myanmar has been in chaos for a month after the army seized power and detained the country's elected leader Aung San Sochi and most of her party leaders on February 1, under the pretext of rigging the elections that the country witnessed in November and which the Sochi Party won by a crushing result.

The coup - which halted initial steps toward democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule - caused hundreds of thousands of people to take to the streets and condemn Western countries.

Suppress protests

Police also threw stun grenades outside a medical college in Yangon, forcing doctors and students in white coats to disperse.

A medical group calling itself the "White Coats Alliance" said more than 50 medical workers had been arrested.

Residents and media reported that police broke up protests in other towns, including Lacheu in the northeast and Meek in the far south.

Last week, the head of the junta, General Min Aung Hling, said the authorities were using minimal force in dealing with the protests.

"The sharp escalation in the use of lethal force (...) is scandalous and unacceptable and must be stopped immediately," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch.

International condemnation

The United Nations also condemned the violent security crackdown in Myanmar, on Sunday, and called on the country's military leaders to refrain from using force against peaceful protesters.

"We strongly condemn the escalation in violence against protesters in Myanmar, and we call on the army to immediately stop using force against peaceful protesters," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The people of Myanmar have the right to peacefully assemble and demand the restoration of democracy," Shamdasani said.

She pointed out that "the army and police should respect these basic rights, not respond to them with violence and bloody repression."

"The use of lethal force against non-violent demonstrators can never be justified under international human rights standards," she added.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, reiterated the call for the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily arrested, including members of the elected government.

Arrests

More than 850 people have been arrested, charged, and convicted since the February 1 coup, according to the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners.

The United States, the European Union and other major powers condemned the violence against the demonstrators and called on the military group to give up power and release Sochi.

Sochi has not been seen in public since her arrest in the capital Naypyidaw at the start of the coup.

Her trial is scheduled to take place on March 1, but her lawyer told AFP Friday that he had not contacted his client yet.

The military council dismissed Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Mo Tun, after announcing his defection from power, appealing to the international community to act against the ruling military group.