Myanmar junta troops massacred 19 civilian detainees, including a child and two women, in Wuntho Township, Sagaing Region last Friday, according to locals.
The mass killing came 10 days after junta troops killed 14 civilians at the same place in Wuntho, locals said.
On Friday, residents of Laybo village and their vehicles loaded with rice were arbitrarily detained by troops from the Wuntho-based Infantry Battalion 120, a resident told The Irrawaddy.
The bodies of 19 of the villagers, including a 15-year-old boy and two women, were later found dumped at the “5 Mile” rest stop for civilian vehicles and trucks on the Kawlin-Wuntho road near Wungyi village.
The rest stop is just 7 km from Kawlin, the first district-level town to be restored to civilian National Unity Government (NUG) rule following its capture by resistance forces on Nov. 6.
Infantry Battalion 120 artillery has been bombarding Kawlin town in recent weeks, killing at least eight civilians including two children.
Among the 19 villagers killed on Friday, four were identified as rice traders from Kawlin and Wongyi village, said a member of a local volunteer group known as “People to People”.
The bodies showed signs of torture along with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Some were tied hand and foot, said a local.
“There are no words to describe this. The soldiers are animals who are losing their minds. They did this because they wanted to,” a member of People to People told The Irrawaddy.
As of Monday evening, People to People had only been able to retrieve five of the bodies. The presence of junta troops nearby was making the collection of the remaining 14 too dangerous.
On Dec. 27, 14 bodies were found dumped at the same “5 Mile” junta rest camp. Troops had looted the victims’ car, motorcycles and other belongings.
Pro-regime telegram channel Fifty Two News claimed that the 14 victims were People’s Defense Force (PDF) members killed during a shootout with regime forces. Other local media reported that the victims included truck drivers and shopkeepers who were arrested and then killed.
The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm the reports independently.
The civilian death toll from mass killings committed by junta forces has soared in the three years since the 2021 coup, according to the NUG.
Nine massacres killed 147 civilians in 2021; 44 massacres killed 515 in 2022; and 86 massacres left 1,342 civilians dead in 2023.
Junta troops have cut mobile phone services in several regions of Sagaing, including Wuntho and Kawlin townships, where resistance forces are attacking regime positions.
As of Monday, local PDFs and armed ethnic allies had occupied four towns in Sagaing – Kawlin, Shwe Pyi Aye, Khampat and Maw Luu.
