Two Australians detained in Myanmar: Report

Sydney, March 22 Two Australian business consultants have been detained in Myanmar while trying to leave the country which is gripped by unrest following the February 1 military coup, a local media report said on Monday.

They are believed to be under house arrest after trying to leave the country on a relief flight on March 19, dpa news agency quoted the report published by Australian news wire AAP.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper named the two men as Matthew O'Kane and Christa Avery, a Canadian-Australian.

They run a business consulting firm for project development in the troubled South-East Asian nation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told AAP on Monday it was providing consular assistance but could not comment further.

According to AAP, their business consultancy firm has been working in South-east Asia for over 20 years, including seven years on the ground.

Myanmar's former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was dislodged by the military coup on February 1.

Since then, large swathes of Myanmar's population have turned out for regular protests demanding her release, as well as a return of the democratically-elected government.

According to the Myanmar prisoners' aid organisation AAPP, 235 people have already been killed and some 2,330 at least temporarily detained in the country since the coup.

( With inputs from IANS )