(Adds army comment on patrols)

* Smaller protests in several cities

* Military deploys armoured vehicles, more soldiers

* Security forces fire rubber bullets in Mandalay

* Internet restored after overnight suspension

* Groups of protesters begin to gather in Yangon

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Protesters in Myanmar kept up demands onMonday for the release of ousted civilian leader Aung San SuuKyi and an end to military rule despite the deployment ofarmoured vehicles and more soldiers on the streets.

Suu Kyi, detained since a Feb. 1 coup against her electedgovernment, had been expected to face a court in connection withcharges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios, but ajudge said her remand lasted until Wednesday, her lawyer, KhinMaung Zaw, said.

The coup and arrest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi andhundreds of others have brought on the biggest protests inMyanmar in more than a decade, with hundreds of thousandsdenouncing the military's derailment of a tentative transitionto democracy.

"This is a fight for our future, the future of our country,"youth activist Esther Ze Naw said at a protest in the main cityof Yangon. "We don't want to live under a military dictatorship.We want to establish a real federal union where all citizens,all ethnicities are treated equally."

The unrest has revived memories of bloody outbreaks ofopposition to almost half a century of direct army rule thatended in 2011 when the military began a process of withdrawingfrom civilian politics.

"People are delighted to have the security patrols and thesecurity forces will conduct them day and night," the army'sTrue News information team said.

Violence this time has been limited, although police haveopened fire several times to disperse protesters. One woman whowas hit by police fire in the capital Naypyitaw last week is notexpected to survive.

Two people were lightly wounded on Monday when police in thecity of Mandalay used rubber bullets and catapults to break up aprotest, media and residents said.

Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing told a junta meeting onMonday that authorities were trying to proceed softly, but said:"Effective action will be taken against people who are harmingthe country, committing treason through violence."

The army said four police injured in the northern town ofMyitkyina on Sunday were among those hurt in protests.

As well as the demonstrations in towns and cities, a civildisobedience movement has brought strikes that are cripplingmany functions of government.

TROOPS ON THE STREETS

Armoured vehicles were deployed on Sunday in Yangon, thenorthern town of Myitkyina and Sittwe in the west, the firstlarge-scale use of such vehicles since the coup.

More soldiers have also been spotted on the streets to helppolice, including members of the 77th Light Infantry Division, amobile force accused of brutality in campaigns against ethnicminority insurgents and protests in the past.

Crowds were smaller, though it was unclear if people wereintimidated by the soldiers or fatigue was setting in after 12days of demonstrations.

"We can't join the protests every day," said a laid-offtravel officer worker in Yangon who declined to be identified."But we won't back down."

At a protest outside the central bank, demonstrators pasteda sign saying "We do not want military government" on anarmoured vehicle. Police sealed off the headquarters of SuuKyi's party, searching it as protesters demonstrated nearby.

Police in Naypyitaw detained about 20 student protesters,one of whom posted pictures of them chanting as they were takenaway on a police bus. They were later released.

Suu Kyi, 75, spent nearly 15 years under house arrest forher efforts to end military rule.

The army has been carrying out nightly arrests and has givenitself search and detention powers. At least 400 people havebeen detained, the group Assistance Association for PoliticalPrisoners said.

On Sunday, the military published penal code amendmentsaimed at stifling dissent and residents reported an internetoutage after midnight on Sunday that lasted until about 9 a.m.

"It's as if the generals have declared war on the people,"U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said on Twitter.

Suu Kyi's party won a 2015 election and another on Nov. 8,but the military said the vote was fraudulent and used thatcomplaint to justify the coup. The electoral commissiondismissed accusations of fraud.(Reporting by Reuter staff; Writing by Matthew Tostevin andRobert Birsel; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Simon Cameron-Moore andAlex Richardson)