Myanmar junta attacks again as spokesman defends crackdown

YANGON (AP) — Security forces in Myanmar have again cracked down heavily on anti-coup protesters even as the military downplayed reports of state violence. At least four people were reported killed in Bago, northeast of Yangon, in an attack that began before dawn. The Bago Weekly Journal Online says a source at the city’s main hospital, whom it didn’t name, believed about 10 people had died. A spokesman for the junta defended the actions of the security forces. He said if reports that automatic weapons had been fired at protesters were true, 500 people would have been killed in just a few hours. At least 614 protesters and bystanders have been killed since the coup, according to independent tallies.