Afp, Yangon

Myanmar’s military seized power in a bloodless coup yesterday, detaining democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and imposing a one-year state of emergency -- moves that sparked global outrage and calls for the generals to immediately backtrack.

The army intervention ended a decade of transition from outright military rule in Myanmar, with the generals justifying the power grab by alleging fraud in the November elections that Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide.

US President Joe Biden led the chorus of world condemnation, calling for a quick restoration of democracy and warning that Washington could reimpose sanctions.

“The international community should come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized,” Biden said.

“The United States is taking note of those who stand with the people of Burma in this difficult hour.”

Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the capital Naypyidaw before dawn, party spokesman Myo Nyunt told AFP, just hours before parliament was meant to reconvene for the first time since the elections.

Late yesterday, Myanmar state television announced the removal of 24 of Suu Kyi’s ministers, and 11 new appointments.

Former foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin, who served under ex-general Thein Sein, will return to that role after five years -- taking over a job that Suu Kyi had held while she was de facto national leader.

The military sealed off roads around the capital with armed troops, trucks and armoured personnel carriers. Military helicopters flew across the city.

A putsch had been expected for days, yet when it came it left Myanmar stunned -- with roads to its main international airport blocked and communications cut -- a country once more isolated from a world it only rejoined a decade ago.

“It’s extremely upsetting -- I don’t want the coup,” said a 64-year-old Burmese man in Hlaing township, standing with a crowd outside a grocery stall.

The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the situation for today.