Civilian death toll climbs past 700

Lives lost: Demonstrators posing with a banner with the symbolic three-finger salute and names of those who were killed during the protests, in the Kamayut township of Yangon. The salute is a symbol of resistance to express their disdain towards the military regime. — AP

A security guard was wounded in a bomb blast outside a military-owned bank in Myanmar’s second-biggest city, as the civilian death toll from the junta’s brutal crackdown on dissent topped more than 700 at the weekend.

The country has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1.