Myanmar’s junta said that a protest campaign against its rule was dwindling since people wanted peace, and that it would hold elections within two years, the first timeframe it has given for a return to democracy since its Feb 1 coup.

Troops fired rifle grenades at anti-coup protesters on Friday in the town of Bago, near the main city Yangon, witnesses and news reports said. At least 10 people were killed and their bodies piled up in the corner of a pagoda, they said.