Junta troops slaughtered at least 12 residents of Depayin Township, leaving seven decapitated and eviscerated, during 10 days of attacks in resistance strongholds of Sagaing Region, residents and resistance members said.
At least seven decapitated bodies were discovered near four villages after a junta infantry battalion departed the township on October 29, Depayin residents told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
“The seven bodies were beheaded and disemboweled. Two resistance members were among the dead,” a volunteer from Depayin said.
Another four people including two resistance members were shot dead by the same junta troops in Ma Soe Yein village at around 10 pm on Monday.
The junta soldiers also seized at least 21 villagers during the Depayin raids, he added.
The whereabouts of the detainees are still unknown.
“This is not the first time they [junta troops] have butchered civilians. They left a message, calling themselves the Ogre Column,” a Depayin villager said.
Since February, the same column has raided resistance strongholds in Ayadaw, Myinmu, Sagaing and Myaung townships in Sagaing Region, as well as Yesagyo Township in Magwe Region, killing nearly 50 civilians and resistance fighters.
“They torched at least seven houses and four barns in Wa Bar village”, Depayin residents and resistance members said.
Two houses and a dozen motorcycles were also torched in Boke Htan village.
Resistance forces claim to have inflicted casualties on the junta column in skirmishes that broke out during the raids.
However, the number of junta troops killed and/or wounded in the Depayin clashes is unknown.
The column of around 130 troops conducted its latest raids in eastern and western Depayin Township between Oct. 21 and 29.
On Monday, the column divided into two groups, one heading for Ye-U town and the other for Depayin town, according to resistance forces.
Thousands of residents from a dozen villages fled their homes in the township during the latest raids, volunteers said.
At least 57,503 houses had been torched by regime forces in Sagaing Region as of July 31, according to Data for Myanmar, an independent group that monitors junta arson attacks.
