Myanmar junta troops tortured and killed four resistance fighters after attacking their camp in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region at around 6 am on Wednesday.
Nearly 70 soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 703 raided the camp, located close to Kyae Mone village, where resistance fighters were making weapons.
The troops detained the resistance fighters and then brutally executed them, according to the Monywa District Battalion 11, People’s Defense Force-South Monywa.
The resistance group said one victim was a member of PDF-South Monywa while the three others were from Monywa King PDF.
Resistance members arrived at the camp after the attack to find three of their comrades still alive, but one later died while being treated for his wounds, said a spokesperson for PDF-South Monywa.
“Our comrades, young people in their 20s, were severely tortured before being killed. They were shot and stabbed with a knife,” the spokesperson, who goes by the name Oxygen, told The Irrawaddy.
Seven resistance fighters were in the camp at the time of the raid, but one managed to escape. Junta troops torched the camp and weapons were lost, he added.
“If we arrest [junta] soldiers alive, we feed them and even ensure they have safety. We are prohibited from killing them. On their side, they are commanded to kill all PDF members that they capture. The enemy is acting like assassins,” the spokesperson said.
Pro-regime Telegram channels claimed that six PDF members had been killed and weapons seized during the clash near Kyae Mone village.
Junta forces have raided numerous PDF camps in Sagaing Region this year, resulting in heavy losses of both resistance lives and armaments, according to resistance groups. Regime forces raided at least six PDF camps in June alone, killing at least 21 resistance fighters and seven civilians.
