Villagers from Kyar Paing in Sagaing Region dare not return to their homes for fear of another raid after Myanmar junta troops and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia members killed 11 civilians during a raid on Saturday.
Around 80 junta soldiers and militia members torched the village houses and killed civilians. The village had more than 3,000 residents and around 1,000 households and is about 12km south of Monywa city, the regional capital. Betel nut is the village’s main crop.
A volunteer helping displaced villagers said: “Junta troops left the village but no one has returned. Some have gone back during the day for their belongings. They fear junta troops have planted landmines in the village or will raid again. The debris has not been cleared.”
Civilians and resistance forces arrived to put out fires on Saturday evening and found 11 bodies inside a village house.
A member of Monywa District People’s Defence Force said: “We cremated 11 bodies. We heard more bodies have been found but we can’t confirm that.”
More than 60 villagers were detained during the raid with the women and older residents later released to be forced to watch their homes being torched.
A villager said: “Taw Pu village is near us but we were off guard. More than 60 villagers did not have time to run and were detained. We don’t know if the murdered villagers were burned alive.”
All the victims were males aged 20 to 53. A Kyar Paing villager said: “The bodies were burned so badly that their families could barely identify them.”
The raid came after junta checkpoints near a Pyu Saw Htee base in Taw Pu village and at the entrance to Monywa city on the Monywa-Mandalay road were attacked on Friday. The militia allegedly seized valuables, cash, motorbikes, phones, furniture and tractors.
“Before they torched homes, they took out valuables and put them on the ground. We don’t yet know what was taken,” said a Kyar Paing resident.
The Ministry of Human Rights of the civilian National Unity Government on Saturday reported 11 massacres between October 27 to November 30. Sagaing Region suffered the most with 102 fatalities in four massacres with 309 deaths.
