Junta troops torched two villages in Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region in southern Myanmar on Tuesday, and shot dead a villager who tried to put out a fire, according to residents.
Junta troops came by boat in the morning and torched Nyaw Pyin and Auk Kyauk Wut villages before leaving in the evening. More than 90 houses were burned down in Nyaw Pyin and nearly 40 in Auk Kyauk Wut, according to a villager.
A 25-year-old villager was shot dead by troops as he tried to put out a fire in Auk Kyauk Wut, said the villager.
“Though junta troops have left, villagers will not return,” he said.
Infantry Battalion 102 is based in Launglon. Troops that torched the two villages came from the Mawyawaddy naval base and Kachin State, according to witnesses. The Irrawaddy could not verify the reports independently.
The two villages have a combined population of more than 5,000 people. The arson attacks left hundreds homeless.
An official of Launglon Township People’s Authority said: “It was an unprovoked arson attack. This is the way the regime has routinely tried to instill fear in civilians and discourage them from supporting revolutionary organizations.”
The authority said junta troops started raiding villages in the township in November 2021 and around 6,500 people have been displaced.
The two villages are near a popular beach in Dawei, the Tanintharyi capital.
Troops reportedly killed six male Auk Kyauk Wut villagers on March 14 and torched another village on March 10.
A total of 435 houses were burned, 394 civilians killed and 146 injured in Tanintharyi since the February 2021 coup, according to the Southern Monitor research group.
Across Myanmar, junta forces have burned over 60,000 houses since the coup, according to the independent research group Data For Myanmar.
