A policeman was killed and more than a dozen farmers wounded - some by gunfire - in clashes during a protest over land ownership in Myanmar’s Delta region, activists and police said on Wednesday.
A further 26 police were injured during on Tuesday night’s demonstration, where farmers demanded the return of 200 hectares of land in the Irrawaddy Delta which they say was seized by the military government in 1996.
Around 300 farmers have been protesting the alleged land-grab since last week.
Similar demonstrations have taken place across the country since 2011, when the repressive junta was replaced by a civilian government. Parliament has been tasked with solving hundreds of resurgent land disputes.
Tuesday night’s clashes in Maubin township were the most serious since a crackdown on a protest camp at a copper mine in November left scores injured.
“The policeman died while getting treatment in Yangon because of a stab-wound,” a police official in Maubin said on condition of anonymity.
