Myanmar junta troops and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia torched a village in Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday, a few days after killing two civilians nearby.
Around 100 soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 361 backed by militia opened fire and burned down houses in Pay Gyi village.
The raid came a day after regime troops suffered heavy casualties in a battle with resistance forces over the electricity substation in neighboring Nga Pyaw Tine village, according to locals.
The military deployed a helicopter gunship during Monday’s eight-hour clash, which also saw two resistance fighters killed.
Junta troops occupied Nga Pyaw Tine on Sept. 29 and have been attacking nearby villages, forcing around 10,000 civilians from southern Kantbalu to abandon their homes.
On Oct. 5, they seized three civilians from nearby Inn Lae Gyi village and two more from Htain Taw village. The soldiers killed two detainees from Inn Lae Gyi, both in their 30s, and released the others the next day, said local charity group Infinity.
“The junta has now sent reinforcements to Nga Pyaw Tine and is raiding nearby villages. Thousands of villagers have had to abandon their homes for the long term,” the group said.
Junta soldiers and allied Pyu Saw Htee have also occupied Pay Gyi village for the past three days. Pay Gyi is located on the Shwebo- Myitkyina road, 9.6 kilometers from Nga Pyaw Tine village.
“We don’t know the scale of the damage in the village yet. We are unable to check as troops are still there,” a representative of the Kyun Hla charity group told The Irrawaddy.
Locals report that phone lines have now gone dead in southern Kantbalu after electricity supplies were cut there and in neighboring Taze township last week.
Residents of Kantbalu have faced frequent terror attacks and atrocities perpetrated by junta troops for more than a year. More than 20,000 civilians have permanently fled the township over the past year and a half, the Kyun Hla charity group reported.
