Four civilians were killed and others captured when Myanmar junta troops raided Depayin Township villages in Sagaing Region on Thursday, according to residents.
Around 80 soldiers from Depayin town raided Mae Aoe village on Thursday morning, detained about 50 villagers and looted homes.
The troops raided neighboring Let Yat Kone village, which has suffered from regime airstrikes and frequent raids and arson attacks in the past two years. They occupied the village on Thursday.
Pro-junta media reported that around 20 People’s Defense Force members were detained in Mae Aoe, including Ma Khin Hnin Aye, a representative of Sagaing parliamentarian Daw Hnin Khaing Soe of the National League for Democracy.
U Zaw Win, U Tun and Ko Kalar, all in their 40s, were beheaded. Troops tortured and killed a woman and burned her body in Let Yat Kone, a villager told The Irrawaddy.
“The soldiers wore civilian clothes. We had no time to take anything and fled in desperation,” she said.
The troops are raiding villages in neighboring Ye-U Township on Friday. Some Depayin villagers were released but most remain in custody, she said.
The troops stole money from Mae Aoe villagers who had recently sold their crops before the raid, a Let Yat Kone villager told The Irrawaddy.
Around 6,000 civilians from Let Yat Kone, Mae Aoe, Nyaung Gyi Kone and Muu Ka Twin villages have fled their homes, the Depayin Refugee Support Group reported. Thousands of civilians from southern Ye-U have also fled.
Depayin residents have not returned home amid fears of shelling from junta bases.
Troops from Ye-U and Depayin frequently raid villages in Ye-U, Khin-U and Depayin townships. Last week four civilians, including a pregnant woman, were murdered during a junta raid in Khin-U Township.
