Myanmar coup: Crackdown tightened with Win Htein arrest

Myanmar's military is tightening its crackdown on the former civilian government, with the arrest of a senior leader from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Win Htein was taken from his Yangon home early on Friday. He told the BBC he was arrested under sedition laws. Ms Suu Kyi and other leaders have been detained since the military launched its coup on Monday, plunging the South East Asian country into uncertainty. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

The military overthrew Ms Suu Kyi's government after it claimed a November election won by the NLD was fraudulent, though the country's election commission said there was no evidence to back up these allegations. The move has been met with global outrage.

In his latest statement, US President Joe Biden on Thursday called on the military to"relinquish power" and release detained officials and activists. The US had already threatened severe sanctions on Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

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