Myanmar police crack down on student protesters, charging with batons

Police officers button charge a student protester during a crackdown in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of the country's main city Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday March 10, 2015. Hundreds of police were charging student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they drag them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the Myanmar town of Letpadan. Witnesses say many of the demonstrators were injured in Tuesday's crackdown, though it was not clear how badly. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) (The Associated Press)

Myanmar police with batons rush towards protesters to charge them in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday March 10, 2015. Hundreds of police were charging student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they drag them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the Myanmar town of Letpadan. Witnesses say many of the demonstrators were injured in Tuesday's crackdown, though it was not clear how badly. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) (The Associated Press)

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.