YANGON • Hackers attacked Myanmar government websites yesterday to protest against the military coup, as the junta pressed on with its attempts to stymie nationwide opposition with Internet blockades and troop deployments.
The cyber attacks came a day after tens of thousands of people rallied across the country to protest against the generals' toppling of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government earlier this month.
A group called Myanmar Hackers disrupted websites, including those of the central bank, state-run broadcaster MRTV, the port authority and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the military's propaganda page.
"We are fighting for justice in Myanmar," the group said on its Facebook page. "It is like mass protesting of people in front of government websites."
Cyber security expert Matt Warren from Australia's RMIT University said it was likely that the aim was to generate publicity.
"The sorts of attacks they would be undertaking are denial of service attacks or defacing websites, which is called hacktivism," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The impact will be potentially limited, but what they are doing is raising awareness."
Internet access was severely curtailed for the fourth night running at about 1am local time (2.30am Singapore time) yesterday, according to NetBlocks, a Britain-based group that monitors Internet outages around the world.
It said connectivity had dropped to just 21 per cent of ordinary levels, and was restored eight hours later, ahead of the start of the working day.
"The practice is detrimental to public safety and incites confusion, fear and distress in difficult times," NetBlocks tweeted.
For a second day, some motorists in Yangon blockaded roads by leaving the bonnets of their vehicles up and pretending they had broken down, to stop security forces from moving around Myanmar's biggest city.
Buses and cars could be seen on live feeds parked around a bridge in the North Dagon township yesterday morning, as protesters chanted: "Don't attend the office, leave it. Join the civil disobedience movement."
"We need the US Army to save our situation", read a sign held by a monk in saffron robes.
Dozens of police officers patrolled the vicinity of Myaynigone junction as motorists also blocked roads there.
"We gathered about five taxis, and one pretended his car had broken down, and blocked the street. Others also surrounded him. But we didn't stay long. We blocked (for) about 30 minutes," said a 30-year-old taxi driver.
Tensions flared overnight in Myanmar's second-biggest city of Mandalay, when police and soldiers broke up a protest that had blocked the railway, two sources told AFP.
A member of a local emergency rescue service said security forces opened fire and that one person was injured, though it was not clear whether rubber bullets or live rounds were used.
Four train drivers participating in the civil disobedience movement were arrested at gunpoint, then taken to a Mandalay locomotive factory and forced to drive to the northern city of Myitkyina, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.
The group has reported that close to 500 people have been arrested since the coup.
In a further sign of the military's efforts to stifle the protest movement, the junta issued arrest warrants against six celebrities on Wednesday, including film directors, actors and a singer, under an anti-incitement law, for encouraging civil servants to join the protest.
The charges can carry a two-year prison sentence.
"It's amazing to see the unity of our people. People's power must return to the people," actor Lu Min, who was on the junta's wanted list, posted defiantly on his Facebook page.
MRTV said the celebrities were accused of using their popularity to encourage people to join the civil disobedience movement.
The military has justified its power grab, alleging widespread voter fraud in last November's elections won by Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
Western powers and the United Nations have repeatedly condemned the coup.
After her detention in a dawn raid on Feb 1, Ms Suu Kyi was charged with possessing unregistered walkie-talkies.
This week, she was hit with a second criminal charge related to holding an election campaign event last year, which the junta claims breached coronavirus restrictions.
Her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw has not been able to meet his client and is worried about the confidentiality of discussions if he is allowed to speak to her only by phone or video call ahead of a March 1 hearing.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
