More Sagaing villages come under attack from Myanmar’s military

The Myanmar military has continued its rampage across much of southern Sagaing Region in recent days, killing civilians and torching homes in Yinmabin and Khin-U townships.

On Monday, the bodies of four villagers were discovered in Lel Ngauk, a village about 5km south of the town of Yinmabin, after troops stationed there for the previous three days left the area.

Three of the victims, including one woman, appeared to have been burned alive with their hands tied behind their backs, while the fourth was shot in the head while attempting to escape, according to two village residents.

The junta troops initially attacked the village last Friday, forcing most of its inhabitants to flee, the two locals said. A column of around 50 soldiers then took control of the village, burning down at least 50 houses during clashes with a local defense force, they added.

Htet Kaung, the defense force leader, said that most of the destruction was concentrated in the part of the village near the Pale-Yinmabin road. He added that three vehicles belonging to the Shwe Zayti monastery, where the soldiers were stationed while in the village, were also torched and destroyed.

“They pushed the cars from the monastery out of the compound and torched them on the road. The houses on the side of the road were also destroyed. Only the house with a communication tower in front of it was spared,” he said.

Residents of Thayet Kone, a village of roughly 1,000 inhabitants located in the northern part of the township, said that more than 70 homes were destroyed by fire during a raid by around 100 regime soldiers on Sunday. “They entered the village from the west, firing heavy artillery. Two shells fell inside the village, but we had all fled by that time, because we heard they were coming,” a resident said.

Most of the destruction was reportedly in the eastern part of the village, which has a predominantly Muslim population. A mosque was among the buildings that were destroyed, local sources said.

Several people sheltering at the local school were arrested during the raid, according to sources.

Residents said they believed that Thayet Kone was targeted because of a social media post claiming that resistance forces active in the area were hiding at the school. However, residents said that the people staying at the school were displaced civilians from the nearby village of Kin Myit.

A spokesperson for the Khin-U People’s Defense Force (PDF) said that the troops who attacked the village were stationed in Pyin Htaung, a village located right next to Thayet Kone. He said, “They captured the people staying inside the school and used their phones to call the numbers of the ones that fled. They also sent camera drones to track down the people who got away”.

A member of another local defense force said that many of the arson attacks targeted the homes of resistance fighters. “They focused on the houses of defense force members. My house was one of them. It’s a two-storey building and everything inside was reduced to ashes. All we have left is the clothes on our backs. I alone lost 40m kyat [$22,000],” he said.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES