Myanmar police and military forces killed at least 38 protesters on Sunday, most of them the country’s largest city Yangon, an advocacy group said.

At least 126 protesters have been killed since the military coup in early February ousted the civilian government, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.

More than 2,100 people have been taken into custody for some length of time while around 1,800 of them are still being held, including politicians, activists and journalists.

Nay Ko Lin, a protester and resident of Hlaing Thar Yar township, in western Yangon, told dpa the demonstration on Sunday was “huge and the military crackdown was very brutal.”

“Today we feel very proud as there are many thousands protesters in our townships. It shows that we don’t accept the unfairness and we want justice,” he said, adding that he knew of 15 deaths on Sunday.

READ ALSO: Merkel’s state election losses could shape national political agenda

In what was a bloody weekend for the pro-democracy movement, at least 11 other demonstrators were killed between Friday evening and Saturday, including in Yangon, Mandalay and Pyay.

The demonstrators are demanding the release of the ousted and detained head of government, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the reinstatement of her elected government.

Mahn Win Khaing Than, the acting leader of a parallel civilian government, vowed in his first address on Saturday to pursue a “revolution” to overturn military coup.

“This is the darkest moment for the nation … this is the time for our citizens to test their resistance,” he said on Facebook.

Mahn Win Khaing Than is a politician with the ousted ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under arrest since the coup.

The BBC reported that he and other NLD politicians managed to escape arrest and founded the parallel government that is seeking to be recognized internationally as the country’s legitimate authority.

Vanguard News Nigeria