Opposition lawmaker says protester shot dead at Chinese-backed copper mine in Myanmar

Farmers confront riot police at the site of the Letpadaung copper mine near Monywa in northwestern Myanmar Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. A woman was fatally shot Monday during a crackdown on protesters at the controversial Chinese-backed copper mine, activists and an opposition lawmaker said. Khin San Hlaing, a lawmaker from the National League for Democracy party, said the confrontation at the Letpadaung copper-mine project, a joint venture between a Myanmar military-controlled holding company and China's Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd., occurred as police and Chinese workers erected a fence on land that the villagers claimed as theirs. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

prev next

Farmer protesters sit on the ground in front of a line of armed police during their protest at the site of the Letpadaung copper mine near Monywa in northwestern Myanmar Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. A woman was fatally shot Monday during a crackdown on protesters at the controversial Chinese-backed copper mine, activists and an opposition lawmaker said. Khin San Hlaing, a lawmaker from the National League for Democracy party, said the confrontation at the Letpadaung copper-mine project, a joint venture between a Myanmar military-controlled holding company and China's Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd., occurred as police and Chinese workers erected a fence on land that the villagers claimed as theirs. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

YANGON, Myanmar – An opposition lawmaker says a woman has been shot dead in a crackdown on protesters at a controversial Chinese-backed copper mine in northwestern Myanmar.

Khin San Hlaing, a lawmaker from the National League for Democracy party, said the Monday confrontation occurred as police and Chinese workers erected a fence on land that the villagers claimed as theirs.

She said a 50-year-old woman was fatally shot in the head, though it was not clear if she was shot by police or mining company security personnel.