YANGON: Security forces in Myanmar shot dead an anti-coup protester Sunday, as the Australian government confirmed it is assisting two nationals who were detained after trying to leave Yangon.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since soldiers ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month, triggering nationwide protests demanding a return to democracy.

Security forces have responded with lethal force, using live rounds along with tear gas and rubber bullets in an effort to bring the demonstrations to heel.

One man was killed on Sunday in the central city of Monywa and at least two people were injured in a clash with security forces at barricades, two witnesses told AFP. “I saw people carrying a man who was shot and killed,” a local resident told AFP, adding the body was taken to a local hospital.

Australia’s foreign ministry confirmed Sunday it was providing consular assistance to two of its nationals in Myanmar.

“Due to our privacy obligations we will not provide further detail,” a spokeswoman said.

It is understood business consultants Matthew O’Kane and Christa Avery, a dual Canadian-Australian citizen, are under house arrest after trying to leave the country on a relief flight Friday.

The couple run a bespoke consultancy business in Yangon.

A third Australian, economist Sean Turnell, an advisor to Suu Kyi, who was arrested a week after the putsch also remains in custody.

Nearly 250 deaths have been confirmed in the weeks since the coup, the AAPP reported, although the true toll could be higher.

More than 2,300 others have been arrested, the group said. International condemnation by Washington, Brussels and the United Nations has so far failed to halt the bloodshed. European Union foreign ministers are expected to approve sanctions against 11 junta officials at a meeting on Monday.