Ongoing protests across Myanmar over February's military coup turned deadly this weekend as the government's crackdown on anti-coup demonstrators left at least 18 people dead and 30 wounded.
According to the Associated Press, the United Nations Human Rights Office said it had received "credible information" that Sunday's security crackdown resulted in at least 18 deaths. The outlet also reported that other sources, such as local and independent news outlets in the country, estimated the death toll was in the 20s.
Either way, it would be the highest single-day death count since the protests began on February 1. Demonstrators first hit the streets at the start of the month, after Myanmar's military announced it would be taking over the country for at least a year, citing unfounded claims of voter fraud as justification for the coup.
The coup has undone years of efforts toward democratizing the once-dictatorship. Protestors are demanding that the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi be returned to power after the military ousted the democratically-elected administration that was set to begin its new term on February 1.
Suu Kyi faces several charges, an apparent effort by the military to legitimize the leader's detainment and bar her from running in the election that the junta has promised to hold in a year, according to the AP.
Protests have been escalating across the country and the region for a month, but Sunday saw a new level of violence wielded against protesters, as security forces made mass arrests and used lethal force in an attempt to break up the protests.
Much of the violence was centralized in the country's largest city, Yangon, where soldiers and police used stun grenades, tear gas, and guns against protesters, according to NBC News.
Confirming the number of deaths across the country has been challenging, especially in smaller cities and more rural areas, but many protesters took to social media over the weekend, sharing videos and photos of shootings and bodies.
In a Monday statement in the Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper, the country's Foreign Ministry said the government "is exercising utmost restraint to avoid the use of force in managing the violent protests systemically, in accordance with domestic and international laws in order to keep minimum casualties," the AP reported.
Despite the fatalities, protesters returned to the streets Monday as security forces continued to fire tear gas and chase demonstrators, though the New York Times reported that Monday's violence was on a lesser level than Sunday's.
According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, 1,213 people have been arrested, charged, or sentenced in Myanmar since February 1. The group also estimates that approximately 30 people have been killed since the coup.