More Myanmar junta victims have been found around Mone Taing Ping village in Ye-U Township, Sagaing Region, with the death toll rising to 36, according to residents.
Most of the victims were found in torched houses and bore signs of torture, they said.
Some corpses were dumped in wells. “We found the bodies while clearing debris from the fire. The bodies were disfigured. We found six bodies in a house where only two old women lived. There were pools of blood covered by shoveled earth,” said a villager.
Around 200 junta soldiers from Taze Township in the region arrived in the village on May 10. Two resistance fighters who were preparing to plant mines were shot dead and a clash followed at the bridge leading to the village.
Some villagers were shot dead by regime troops and others were abducted from neighboring villages, according to witnesses.
Villagers and people’s defense forces (PDF) fighters returned to Mone Taing Ping after junta troops left.
“Only bones were left from some bodies. Some had their hands tied,” said another resident.
Villagers said they could not identify many of the victims.
Junta troops torched 29 houses in Mone Taing Ping, which had 300 households.
“They did not torch the entire village. They only torched houses of PDF members and supporters. Military informants showed them the houses. Junta troops put the dead bodies in those houses. They held detainees overnight and killed them the next day,” said a villager.
Since May 10, junta troops have raided villages in Ye-U and Khin-U townships, torching houses and killing civilians.
An estimated 11,417 houses were razed in arson attacks by the military regime and allied militias by April 30, according to Data for Myanmar, an independent research group documenting junta atrocities.
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