Three men were allegedly gunned down by Myanmar junta troops in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region. on Tuesday, following the killing of a regime-appointed village administrator.
Gyoke Pin villagers said they heard gunshots on Tuesday night and the bodies of three men were found in a field on Wednesday morning.
“We all were too scared to investigate and there is a nighttime curfew, a villager said.
Sources said three vehicles of junta soldiers and three ambulances arrived at the scene early on Wednesday.
“We saw one of the men was still alive when the troops took the bodies,” a witness said.
Villagers said they could not identify the victims but said they were killed because of the administrator’s assassination.
The Irrawaddy is unable to verify their claims.
The Gyoke Pin administrator was killed by unknown resistance members on Sunday evening.
No group has claimed responsibility.
Gyoke Pin villagers reported a similar incident in late 2022.
“Last year we found three unidentified male bodies near our village after a junta informant was shot dead by resistance forces in the village,” a villager said.
Gyoke Pin has around 600 households and is in junta-held territory on the Myingyan-Nyaung U Road in Myingyan Township.
Junta troops killed five Myingyan resistance members near Yon Htoe village in June.
Rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has recorded more than 4,000 civilian deaths across Myanmar since the 2021 coup.
