At least 22 people killed in suspected massacre at Myanmar monastery

FILE PHOTO: Soldiers stand next to military vehicles as people gather to protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, February 15, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

(Reuters) - At least 22 people, including three Buddhist monks, were shot dead at close range in central Myanmar last week, according to a doctor's post-mortem report, in what opponents of military rule say was a massacre of civilians conducted by the army.

A spokesman for Myanmar's junta, which staged a coup two years ago to depose the elected government, said its troops had been involved in clashes with rebel fighters in the Pinlaung region of southern Shan state but had not harmed any civilians.