[UPDATED] Aung San Suu Kyi held by Myanmar army in possible coup, Yangon city hall seized

YANGON – Myanmar’s military has detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an apparent coup, her ruling party’s spokesman said today. 

Myanmar troops also today seized control of Yangon city hall.

An AFP journalist saw five military trucks inside the city hall compound, with soldiers turning people away as they arrived for work.

The military, which ruled the country for nearly five decades, had this week refused to rule out seizing power over its claims of voter fraud in November's elections, won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party. 

Myo Nyunt, the spokesman for the NLD, said Suu Kyi, along with President Win Myint, have been “detained” in the capital Naypyidaw. 

“We heard they were taken by the military," he told AFP, adding that he was extremely worried about the pair.

“With the situation we see happening now, we have to assume that the military is staging a coup.”

Elsewhere, the chief minister of Karen state and several other regional ministers were also held, according to party sources, on the very day when the new parliament was to hold its first session.

Myo Nyunt said it was not clear what would happen to the newly elected MPs.

Communications appeared to be disrupted, with phone numbers in Naypyidaw seemingly unreachable and internet connections severely disrupted.

“The telecommunication disruptions, beginning approximately 3am Monday morning local time, have significant subnational impact including the capital, and are likely to limit coverage of events as they take place,” said the Netblocks civil society group.

The US today urged Myanmar’s military to release detained officials, including Suu Kyi, and warned of a response from Washington.

“The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition, and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed,” White House spokesman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Australia also demanded Myanmar’s army immediately release Suu Kyi and other elected leaders, warning the military is "once again seeking to seize control" of the country.

“We call on the military to respect the rule of law, to resolve disputes through lawful mechanisms and to release immediately all civilian leaders and others who have been detained unlawfully,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.

Myanmar’s polls in November were only the second democratic elections the country has seen since it emerged from the 49-year grip of military rule in 2011. 

The NLD swept the polls and was expecting to renew the 75-year-old leader’s lease on power with a new five-year term. 

But the military has for weeks alleged the polls were riddled with irregularities, and claimed to have uncovered over 10 million instances of voter fraud. 

It has demanded the government-run election commission release voter lists for cross-checking – which the commission has not done. 

Last week, the military chief General Min Aung Hlaing – arguably the country's most powerful individual – said the country's 2008 constitution could be "revoked" under certain circumstances. 

Min Aung Hlaing’s statements – released amid already increasing tensions over rumours of an imminent coup – raised alarm within Myanmar, as well as from more than a dozen foreign missions and the United Nations. 

The last time Myanmar saw its constitution repealed was in 1962 and 1988 – when the military seized power and reinstated a junta government.

Suu Kyi – a former democracy icon whose image internationally has been in tatters over her handling of the Muslim Rohingya crisis – remains a deeply popular figure. 

She spent 20 years off and on under house arrest for her role as an opposition leader, before she was released by the military in 2010. – AFP, February 1, 2021