Myanmar police raid housing of striking railway workers

Mandalay (Myanmar): Myanmar security forces early Wednesday raided a neighbourhood in the country's largest city that is home to state railway workers who have gone on strike to protest last month's military coup.

Police sealed off the Mingalar Taung Nyunt neighbourhood in Yangon where the Ma Hlwa Kone train station and housing for railway workers are located. Photos and video on social media showed officers blocking streets and what was said to be people escaping. At least three arrests were reported but it was not immediately possible to independently confirm that.

The raid comes just days after several Myanmar unions, including the Myanmar Railway Worker's Union Federation, issued a joint call for a nationwide work stoppage. The statement said the strike would be part of a broader effort for the full, extended shutdown of the Myanmar economy.

Myanmar has been roiled by protests and other acts of civil disobedience since the Feb. 1 coup that toppled elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government just as it was to start its second

term.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.

Security forces have responded with mass arrests and at times lethal force.

At least 60 protesters have been killed since the military takeover, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Authorities have also moved to shut down independent reporting on the situation, both through arrests of journalists the closure of media outlets.