(Removes second bullet point and paragraph 13 reference to Cardinal Charles Maung Bo comment on Twitter, which did not come from a verified account. The correction also applies to previous versions of this story.)
* Police break up protests in several places
* State media says "illegal organisations" creating unrest
* Myanmar's ousted president faces new charges - lawyer
March 3 (Reuters) - Myanmar security forces opened fire on protests against military rule on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people, a human rights group said, a day after neighbouring countries called for restraint and offered to help Myanmar resolve the crisis.
The security forces resorted to live fire with little warning in several towns and cities, witnesses said, as the junta appeared more determined than ever to stamp out protests against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"It's horrific, it's a massacre. No words can describe the situation and our feelings," youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi told Reuters via a messaging app.
A spokesman for the ruling military council did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.
Ko Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners rights group, said in a post on Twitter: "As of now, so called military killed at least 18."
In the main city Yangon, witnesses said at least eight people were killed, one early in the day and seven others when security forces opened sustained fire with automatic weapons in a neighbourhood in the north of the city in the early evening.
"I heard so much continuous firing. I lay down on the ground, they shot a lot," protester Kaung Pyae Sone Tun, 23, told Reuters.
A protest leader in the community, Htut Paing, said the hospital there had told him seven people had been killed. Hospital administrators were not immediately available for comment.
Another heavy toll was in the central town of Monywa, where six people were killed, the Monywa Gazette reported.
Others were killed in various places including the second-biggest city Mandalay, the northern town of Hpakant and the central town of Myingyan.
At least 40 people have been killed since the coup.
The violence came a day after foreign ministers from Southeast Asian neighbours urged restraint but failed to unite behind a call for the release of Suu Kyi and the restoration of democracy.
Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist but has small Christian communities.
Pope Francis, who visited Myanmar in 2017, said on Twitter: "Sad news of bloody clashes and loss of life...I appeal to the authorities involved that dialogue may prevail over repression."