After detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) during a raid in the early hours on Monday, the Myanmar military has taken control of the country.
The coup comes after tensions escalated between the civilian government and the military following the election in November.
After the detention of the political leaders, the military TV has declared a state of emergency in the country for one year, says a media report.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won the November election with a landslide victory and formed the government but the army said the vote was “fraudulent”.
The democratic reforms in Myanmar began in 2011.
Also read: Myanmar military detains Aung San Suu Kyi, claims NLD spokesman
Earlier, the country was ruled by the military.
The Myanmar military on Monday announced that it was handing power to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Soldiers are reportedly seen on the streets of the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main city, Yangon.
NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt earlier informed that Aung san Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders were “taken” in the early hours of the morning.
“I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law,” the NLD spokesman said, adding he also expected to be arrested.
As per the report, soldiers visited the homes of chief ministers in several regions and took them away.
The Lower House of the Parliament was due to convene for the first time on Monday while the military called for a postponement of the same.
The report quoted John Sifton of Human Rights Watch as saying: “The military junta that ruled Myanmar for decades never really stepped away from power in the first place.”
“They never really submitted to civilian authority in the first place, so today’s events in some sense are merely revealing a political reality that already existed,” Sifton added.
It has been reported that the mobile internet data connections and some phone services have been disrupted in major cities of Myanmar.
The state broadcaster MRTV says it is having technical issues and is off the air.