Yangon: Myanmar military has taken off the country after detaining de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with the country’s President Win Myint and other senior politicians today in the early hours.

The coups came in weeks after the tension rose between the military and the civilian government over allegations of fraud in elections held in November.

Myanmar which is also known as Burma was ruled by the military until democratic reforms began in 2011. Today, Military TV announced a state of emergency in the country for one year and confirmed the transfer of power.

Last week, the military signaled that it could seize power to settle its claims of irregularities in the polls, which the National League for Democracy (NLD) party won. 

The military handed over the power to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing because of “election fraud” on Monday. Soldiers were seen on the streets of the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and the main city, Yangon.

It is reported that mobile internet data connections and network services have been disrupted in major cities, while the state broadcaster MRTV says it is having technical issues and is off-air.

Communications with the capital are down and it is difficult to assess the on-ground situations. In Yangon, phone lines and the internet appear to be limited, with many providers cutting their services. All international broadcasters are blocked while local stations are off-air.

Some reports suggest that people in Yangon are rushing to get money from ATMs amid expectations of a cash crunch in the coming days. While a few ATMs already appear to not be working and it’s unclear whether banks will open.

Since 1962, this is the first time that the military carried out a coup d’etat against a civilian government. Countries such as the United States and Australia condemned the act and called for the release of detained NLD leaders and the restoration of democracy.

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