Protesters opposed to Myanmar's military coup defied bans on big gatherings to extend the largest demonstrations in more than a decade on Tuesday, chanting and confronting police who fired water cannons and arrested more than two dozen people.

The military moved soldiers into the streets of the country’s commercial capital, Yangon, as tens of thousands of protesters gathered.

Police in the capital, Naypyitaw, fired gunshots into the air to disperse demonstrations, witnesses said. One witness said demonstrators were running away as guns were fired into the air, but not in the direction of the crowd. The witness said police had initially used water cannons and tried to push a large crowd back, but demonstrators responded with projectiles. Footage on social media showed people running, with the sound of several gunshots in the distance.