WASHINGTON, 11 February, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Myanmar military leaders behind the coup after several thousand people flocked to the streets in Yangon demanding normalization and return to democracy.

"Today I'm announcing a series of actions that we're taking to begin imposing consequences on the leaders of the coup. The US government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly having access to the USD1 billion in Burmese government funds held in the United States," Biden told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

"We will identify the first round of targets this week. We are also going to impose strong export controls. We are freezing US assets that benefit the Burmese government while maintaining our support for healthcare, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly," Biden said.

"I again call on the Burmese military to immediately release democratic political leaders and activists they are now detaining including Aung San Suu Kyi and also Win Myint, the president," Biden said.

"The military must relinquish power."

After the coup arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, crowds swarmed the streets calling for her release.

Officers fired live rounds at one rally in Naypyidaw, the capital since 2005, as protesters faced down police a day after they used tear gas and rubber bullets.

Since then, many politicians from the party, and around 30 including a journalist were detained.