Force An active military base is located north of the massacre site. Security forces used battlefield-grade weapons against civilians, including assault rifles, and heavy weaponry like rocket-propelled and hand grenades. Medical treatment was denied to injured individuals. Aftermath Following the massacre, military troops remained stationed near the massacre site. Thereafter, approximately 100,000 residents in the five nearby wards fled their homes. Victims' corpses were temporarily stored at the compound of Shin Sawbu Pagoda (also known as Zeyamuni Pagoda), which was cordoned off. Security forces barricaded the site for several days, rendering it impossible for civilians to retrieve the corpses. Following the crackdown, the military demanded payments of 120,000 MMK (US$85) from families to retrieve victims' corpses. Reactions Domestic The following day, the military-run newspaper, the Global New Light of Myanmar, labelled the protesters as "rioters," and claimed that they had attacked security forces with handmade guns, Molotov cocktails, arrows, and grenades. A protest leader, Ye Htut, likened the massacre to a genocide. International Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement condemning the escalation of indiscriminate violence and use of military-grade weaponry against civilians. She compared the violence to incidents in the Syrian civil war. On 12 April, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar called for the United Nations Secretary General to immediately act in response to the crackdown in Bago. Thomas Andrews, the UN's special rapporteur for Myanmar, called the massacre a crime against humanity. The American embassy in Myanmar mourned the loss of life in Bago. On 10 December 2021, the American government announced it had imposed sanctions on Myo Swe Win, the junta-appointed chief minister of Bago Region, in response to the massacre. See also 2021 Myanmar coup d'état 2021–2023 Myanmar protests List of massacres in Myanmar References External links NHK / Myanmar Witness report 2021 in Myanmar 2021 murders in Myanmar Massacres in 2021 Internal conflict in Myanmar Massacres in Myanmar 21st-century mass murder in Myanmar April 2021 events in Asia April 2021 crimes in Asia Bago Region