Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top government figures of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, have been detained "by the military, according to foreign reports.

The reports state that several ministers from large states in Myanmar had been detained by the military in addition to Suu Kyi. "The military seems to take control of the capital now," spokesman Myo Nyunt said.

The move comes after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the powerful military, in the aftermath of an election the army says was fraudulent

The NLD won 83% of available seats in the 8 November, 2020 election in what many saw as a referendum on Suu Kyi's civilian government, but the army says the vote was fraudulent. Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the military until 2011.

It was just the second election since the end of military rule in 2011. But the military has disputed the result, filing complaints at the Supreme Court against the president and the chair of the electoral commission.

Fears of a coup rose after the military recently threatened to "take action" over alleged fraud. The election commission has rejected the allegations.

On Saturday Myanmar's armed forces promised to abide by the constitution as concerns grew that they were preparing to stage a coup.

Suu Kyi was a hero of democracy in her home country of Myanmar, for being both a former political prisoner who spent two decades under house arrest and the daughter of assassinated independence icon, Aung San.

General Aung San was assassinated when Suu Kyi was only two years old, just before Myanmar gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948.

In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, while still under house arrest, and hailed as "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". She spent nearly 15 years in detention between 1989 and 2010.

In November 2015 she led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory in Myanmar's first openly contested election for 25 years