Myanmar's military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically-elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy party in early morning raids.
Matthew Larotonda reports.
Myanmar's military has seized power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi and politicians from her National League for Democracy party - or NLD - were detained in early morning raids on Monday (February 1).
A video posted on Facebook by one parliamentarian appears to show the arrest of a regional lawmaker named Pa Pa Han.
In the video, her husband pleads with men in military clothing standing outside the gate.
The army says it carried out the detentions in response to "election fraud," handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing.
State TV has broadcast footage of Hlaing meeting with the acting president, Myint Swe, who read out a statement declaring a one-year state of emergency.
The generals made their move hours before parliament had been due to sit for the first time since the NLD's landslide win in November's election.
Suu Kyi's party won 83% of the vote in only the second election since a military junta agreed to share power in 2011.
The coup derails years of Western-backed efforts to establish democracy in Myanmar.
Australia, Britain, the European Union, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States are all condemning the coup.
Tom Andrews is the UN's envoy for Myanmar: "The international community rejects what has happened, that leaders of the world are united in their revulsion of this illegal act and that the international community is committed to working together, to see that this does not stand.
The people of Myanmar need to know, first and foremost, that the world is watching and that the world is with them." In the city of Yangon, mobile phone networks were down and residents were panic-buying groceries alongside long lines at ATMs to withdraw their money.
Banks subsequently suspended services due to poor internet connections.
Supporters of the military celebrated the coup, parading through the city in pickup trucks and waving national flags.
Suu Kyi first came to power in 2015 following decades of living under house arrest in a struggle for democracy.
She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her effort, but her international standing was damaged after her election victory, when hundreds of thousands of ethnic RohingyaMuslims were forced to flee military violence in 2017.
In Myanmar itself, she remains hugely popular.
Myanmar police fired on protesters on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup. Emily Wither..
Footage shows armed riot police arresting protesters at gunpoint in Myanmar today (February 27).
