<p>Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing will join a special ASEAN summit next week, the Thai foreign ministry said Saturday, his first official trip since masterminding a coup which deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.</p>.<p>The February 1 putsch triggered a massive uprising, bringing hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets to demand a return to democracy, while civil servants have boycotted work in a bid to shutter the junta's administration.</p>.<p>The military has deployed lethal force to quell the anti-coup movement, killing more than 720 people and detaining some 3,100 activists, journalists and dissidents, according to a local monitoring group.</p>.<p>The international community has largely condemned the generals for use of force against unarmed civilians -- imposing targeted sanctions against top military brass, their families and army-linked businesses.</p>.<p>But regional leaders have sought to open communications with the regime, and on Saturday Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta on Myanmar's situation will include the senior general.</p>.<p>"Several leaders have confirmed their attendance including Myanmar's MAH (Min Aung Hlaing)," said spokesman Tanee Sangrat in a message to reporters.</p>.<p>The meeting of the 10-country bloc of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to address the ongoing crisis in post-coup Myanmar, and will be on April 24 in Jakarta.</p>.<p>The announcement drew dismay from activists, who have long beseeched foreign leaders not to recognise the junta.</p>.<p>"#ASEAN do not legitimize the Myanmar Military junta as a government by inviting MAH to attend the summit," said prominent activist Wai Wai Nu on Twitter. "(The) Junta is illegitimate and illegal."</p>.<p>The military has consistently justified the putsch by alleging widespread fraud in November's elections, which Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide.</p>.<p>They claim power will be handed back to a civilian administration after elections are held in about a year -- though they recently extended the timeline to a two-year period.</p>.<p>Saturday was the first day of Myanmar's traditional New Year, and hundreds in commercial hub Yangon visited the famed Shwedagon Pagoda to pray as soldiers patrolled the streets.</p>.<p>Leading up to the Buddhist New Year, the Thingyan festivities were a sombre affair -- a far cry from previous years when revellers would take to the streets for city-wide water fights.</p>.<p>Instead, activists sloshed crimson paint in Yangon to symbolise the bloodshed, while protesters wore red across the country in nationwide demonstrations.</p>.<p>More violence erupted Saturday in the central gem-producing city of Mogok, when security forces cracked down on protesters.</p>.<p>According to an AFP-verified video filmed by a resident, soldiers crouched on a street as their commanding officer shouted that he wanted "deaths".</p>.<p>A rescue worker told AFP at least one had died.</p>.<p>"He was shot in the stomach," he said, adding that six others injured had to be rushed to the hospital.</p>.<p>Despite the threat of violence, protesters have continued to gather across the country in defiance of the junta, carrying posters demanding for Suu Kyi to be freed.</p>.<p>Some demonstrations -- like in Yangon and central Monywa city -- also touted support of the so-called "National Unity Government", a shadow administration formed by ousted MPs working in hiding to thwart junta rule.</p>.<p>"It has been more than 70 days since the coup... we can no longer see our future and goals," said 19-year-old Max in Yangon.</p>.<p>"We have high hopes for a government that can compete with the military regime."</p>.<p>The country's jails are also releasing more than 23,000 prisoners nationwide, a prison official told AFP Saturday -- part of its annual amnesty for Myanmar's New Year.</p>.<p>There have been two other mass releases since the coup.</p>.<p>The first was in mid-February, which rights groups feared was a move to free up space for military opponents, and the second on the eve of Armed Forces Day when the regime released around 900 detained demonstrators.</p>.<p>But its jails have continued to fill.</p>.<p>So far, more than 3,100 people -- the bulk of them anti-coup protesters and activists -- have been detained, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.</p>.<p>It remains unclear if those released Saturday included post-coup detainees.</p>.<p>The junta has also issued nightly arrest warrants on state-run media, targeting celebrities, influencers, journalists and prominent activists with large social media followings.</p>.<p>Doctors refusing to work under the regime -- leaving hospitals unstaffed in a pandemic -- have also drawn the wrath of the junta.</p>.<p>By Friday night, the arrest warrants for all totalled 460.</p>
<p>Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing will join a special ASEAN summit next week, the Thai foreign ministry said Saturday, his first official trip since masterminding a coup which deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.</p>.<p>The February 1 putsch triggered a massive uprising, bringing hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets to demand a return to democracy, while civil servants have boycotted work in a bid to shutter the junta's administration.</p>.<p>The military has deployed lethal force to quell the anti-coup movement, killing more than 720 people and detaining some 3,100 activists, journalists and dissidents, according to a local monitoring group.</p>.<p>The international community has largely condemned the generals for use of force against unarmed civilians -- imposing targeted sanctions against top military brass, their families and army-linked businesses.</p>.<p>But regional leaders have sought to open communications with the regime, and on Saturday Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta on Myanmar's situation will include the senior general.</p>.<p>"Several leaders have confirmed their attendance including Myanmar's MAH (Min Aung Hlaing)," said spokesman Tanee Sangrat in a message to reporters.</p>.<p>The meeting of the 10-country bloc of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to address the ongoing crisis in post-coup Myanmar, and will be on April 24 in Jakarta.</p>.<p>The announcement drew dismay from activists, who have long beseeched foreign leaders not to recognise the junta.</p>.<p>"#ASEAN do not legitimize the Myanmar Military junta as a government by inviting MAH to attend the summit," said prominent activist Wai Wai Nu on Twitter. "(The) Junta is illegitimate and illegal."</p>.<p>The military has consistently justified the putsch by alleging widespread fraud in November's elections, which Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide.</p>.<p>They claim power will be handed back to a civilian administration after elections are held in about a year -- though they recently extended the timeline to a two-year period.</p>.<p>Saturday was the first day of Myanmar's traditional New Year, and hundreds in commercial hub Yangon visited the famed Shwedagon Pagoda to pray as soldiers patrolled the streets.</p>.<p>Leading up to the Buddhist New Year, the Thingyan festivities were a sombre affair -- a far cry from previous years when revellers would take to the streets for city-wide water fights.</p>.<p>Instead, activists sloshed crimson paint in Yangon to symbolise the bloodshed, while protesters wore red across the country in nationwide demonstrations.</p>.<p>More violence erupted Saturday in the central gem-producing city of Mogok, when security forces cracked down on protesters.</p>.<p>According to an AFP-verified video filmed by a resident, soldiers crouched on a street as their commanding officer shouted that he wanted "deaths".</p>.<p>A rescue worker told AFP at least one had died.</p>.<p>"He was shot in the stomach," he said, adding that six others injured had to be rushed to the hospital.</p>.<p>Despite the threat of violence, protesters have continued to gather across the country in defiance of the junta, carrying posters demanding for Suu Kyi to be freed.</p>.<p>Some demonstrations -- like in Yangon and central Monywa city -- also touted support of the so-called "National Unity Government", a shadow administration formed by ousted MPs working in hiding to thwart junta rule.</p>.<p>"It has been more than 70 days since the coup... we can no longer see our future and goals," said 19-year-old Max in Yangon.</p>.<p>"We have high hopes for a government that can compete with the military regime."</p>.<p>The country's jails are also releasing more than 23,000 prisoners nationwide, a prison official told AFP Saturday -- part of its annual amnesty for Myanmar's New Year.</p>.<p>There have been two other mass releases since the coup.</p>.<p>The first was in mid-February, which rights groups feared was a move to free up space for military opponents, and the second on the eve of Armed Forces Day when the regime released around 900 detained demonstrators.</p>.<p>But its jails have continued to fill.</p>.<p>So far, more than 3,100 people -- the bulk of them anti-coup protesters and activists -- have been detained, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.</p>.<p>It remains unclear if those released Saturday included post-coup detainees.</p>.<p>The junta has also issued nightly arrest warrants on state-run media, targeting celebrities, influencers, journalists and prominent activists with large social media followings.</p>.<p>Doctors refusing to work under the regime -- leaving hospitals unstaffed in a pandemic -- have also drawn the wrath of the junta.</p>.<p>By Friday night, the arrest warrants for all totalled 460.</p>