PROSPECTS for peace in Myanmar seem dimmer than ever on the second anniversary of the army seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, experts say.

On Wednesday, legions of opponents of military rule heeded a call by protest organisers to stay home in what they called a “silent strike” to show their strength and solidarity.

The opposition’s General Strike Co-ordination Body, formed soon after the 2021 takeover, urged people to stay inside their homes or workplaces. 

Photos posted on social media showed empty streets in the normally bustling downtown area of Yangon, the country’s largest city, with just a few vehicles on the roads and there were reports of similar scenes elsewhere.

Small peaceful protests are an almost-daily occurrence throughout the country since the military seized power on February 1 2021.

The violence from the military is brutal in rural areas where the army is burning and bombing villages, displacing hundreds of thousands of people in what is a largely neglected humanitarian crisis. 

In the cities, activists are arrested and tortured as urban guerillas retaliate with bombings and assassinations of targets linked to the military. The military, after closed trials, have also hanged a number of activists they have accused of terrorism.

The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group that tracks killings and arrests, says at least 2,940 civilians have been killed by the authorities since the army takeover, with another 17,572 arrested. 

“The level of violence involving both armed combatants and civilians is alarming and unexpected,” said Min Zaw Oo, a veteran political activist in exile who founded the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security.

“The scale of the killing and harm inflicted on civilians has been devastating and unlike anything we have seen in the country in recent memory,” he said.