Myanmar police charge at student protesters with batons

LETPADAN, Myanmar — Hundreds of police in Myanmar have charged student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they drag them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the town of Letpadan.

Witnesses say many of the demonstrators were injured in Tuesday's crackdown, though it was not clear how badly.

Police also chased journalists, scattering them in all directions.

The clash comes after student protesters started a sit-in on a road near a monastery in Letpadan last week when authorities prevented them from marching to Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) to the south.

The demonstrators want the government to scrap a newly passed education law that they say curbs academic freedom.