An official from Aung San Suu Kyi's party has died in custody in Myanmar after being arrested during raids by security forces in Yangon.

On Sunday the body of U Khin Maung Latt was released to his family, who were reportedly told that he had died after fainting.

Photos show a bloodstained cloth around the 58-year-old's head.

Activists say he was beaten while being detained by police and soldiers, and subjected to a harsh interrogation.

Protests continue against last month's coup despite a bloody crackdown.

The UN says more than 50 people have been killed since the military detained Ms Suu Kyi, Myanmar's democratically elected leader, on 1 February.

The authorities have exhumed the body of one victim, 19-year-old Kyal Sin, and said she had not been killed by police as she had been shot from behind.

In another development, the military rulers asked neighbouring India to return several police officers who had crossed the border seeking refuge after refusing to carry out orders.

How did U Khin Maung Latt die?

He actively campaigned for candidates of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in recent general elections and was also known for his welfare work, The Irawaddy reports.

He had been "violently beaten and kicked before being taken from his home" at around 22:00 (15:30 GMT) on Saturday, according to witnesses quoted by the news outlet.

On Sunday morning, his family was informed he had died after "fainting" and they collected his body from a military hospital.

U Tun Kyi, from the Former Political Prisoners Society, told AFP news agency: "He was beaten and taken in a raid since last night and it seems he underwent a harsh interrogation."

On Friday, an NLD local official in a village in Magwe region, U Htway Naing, was reportedly hacked to death by supporters of the military.

In Yangon, police carried out other night-time raids on Saturday.

The UN special rapporteur, Tom Andrews, told the BBC that video from different parts of Myanmar showed security forces firing repeatedly at buildings as they made arrests.

"And you can see them walking down the streets in Yangon, firing up through the windows as people look in horror down on the streets," he said.

"These are gangs. This is criminal activity. They're terrorising these neighbourhoods. So there is a compelling reason for the world to act and for the world to act now."

Where are the latest protests happening?

Security forces fired tear gas on Sunday in the country's second biggest city, Mandalay, after thousands of protesters turned out.

Demonstrations were also held in half a dozen other cities, Reuters news reports, with police using force against protesters in Yangon, Lashio and Bagan.

In the southern town of Dawei, one protest leader was quoted by Reuters as saying: "They are killing people just like killing birds and chickens. What will we do if we don't revolt against them? We must revolt."

Myanmar in profile

• Myanmar, also known as Burma, became independent from Britain in 1948. For much of its modern history it has been under military rule
• Restrictions began loosening from 2010 onwards, leading to free elections in 2015 and the installation of a government led by veteran opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi the following year
• In 2017, Myanmar's army responded to attacks on police by Rohingya militants with a deadly crackdown, driving more than half a million Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh in what the UN later called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing"

Under the Tripartite Commission’s umbrella, nine human remains, including a Saudi citizen, among the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia missing persons list, gone missing during the 1990-1991 Gulf War and whose relatives have remained without news since were officially buried in the State of Kuwait. Finally, after 30 years of painful uncertainty, the families now have clarity on the fate of their loved ones – and our thoughts remain with all those still waiting for answers, hoping that they too may gain closure in the near future.

This development follows conclusive DNA analyses conducted and matching with Kuwait’s database of Prisoners of War (POW) and Missing persons and third-country nationals, led by the General Department of Forensic Evidences in the Ministry of Interior in the State of Kuwait. This enabled the closure of another 20 missing persons’ cases among the State of Kuwait missing persons’ list earlier this year.

The human remains in question had been found at a burial site in Iraq’s Samawa district back in March 2019, thanks to the Iraqi and Kuwaiti authorities’ joint efforts assisted by experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) within the frame of the Technical Sub-Committee.

The Tripartite Commission and its Technical Sub-Committee were set up in 1991 and 1994, respectively, to help ascertain the fate of people missing in connection with the 1990-1991 Gulf War. They are chaired by the ICRC and composed of representatives of the Republic of Iraq, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of France. The UNAMI joined in 2014 as an observer. The Tripartite Commission members continue to work relentlessly to search for those still unaccounted for in relation to the conflict.

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Three YPG/PKK terrorists in possession of $2 million were arrested in northern Syria, Turkish security sources said on Saturday.

The suspects were gathering information for the terror group on security forces deployed in the region, said the sources, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

They were arrested in the town of Cobanbey in an operation by gendarmerie forces from Turkey’s Kilis province, said the sources.

The $2 million found in their possession was meant to be delivered to the terror group in Syria’s Manbij region, the sources added.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

The US Senate passed on Saturday President Joe Biden's much-awaited $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, sending it back to House of Representatives for approval. 

The upper chamber had a 50-49 vote, with one absentee and all Republicans voting against the relief package, which was passed through budget reconciliation -- a process that required every Democratic vote without any Republican support.

While Republicans are worried about too much liquidity injected into the economy, Democrats argue that the extensive package is needed for quick recovery in the world's largest economy. 

"The Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard or less rigorous way," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote on Twitter, reminding that Congress passed last year five pandemic rescue packages totaling $4 trillion. 

"Instead of working together to fight COVID-19, Democrats decided to exploit the crisis by jamming through unrelated liberal policies they couldn’t pass honestly," the Republican lawmaker of Kentucky added. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, said the legislation is one of the most significant anti-poverty bills in modern American history that will help millions of people who are struggling due to the pandemic.

The Democrat Senator of New York added that the bill will help families and jobless individuals by providing aid for food, rent, utilities, small businesses, and vaccine efforts.

Biden said via Twitter: "I hope the American Rescue Plan receives a quick passage in the House so it can be sent to my desk to be signed."

The legislation was "desperately and urgently needed," he told in a press briefing, adding: "Everything in this package was designed to relieve the suffering, and meet the most urgent needs of the nation, and put us in a better position to prevail." 

The bill is now sent to the House of Representatives where it will be voted again in the coming days to be sent to the White House. Biden needs to sign it before March 14 if unemployment benefit programs are to be renewed. 

The package includes direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans and $300 weekly benefits for the unemployed into September. The bill lowered the $400 weekly support through August that passed the House last Saturday. 

It also expands child tax credit one year for families with children, rental assistance and K-12 schools for reopening, while it provides new funding for vaccine distribution and testing. /aa