Junta troops killed nine people in villages near the border of Sagaing and Wetlet townships in Sagaing Region during five days, residents said.
The raids on the villages began last Tuesday (August 22) when about 100 junta troops entered Htan Taw Seit Village in Sagaing Township. Five youths, who were members of its People’s Defense Force (PDF), were beheaded, residents said.
The column moved on to western Wetlet Township on Friday and stationed itself at Ywar Thar Gyi Village.
It then raided Kyi Kan (north) Village on Saturday morning and arrested six people taking refuge at the village monastery.
A 20-year-old woman and her father—who was over 50 years of age— were killed by regime troops. The woman was gang raped before being killed, residents said. Her mother and sister-in-law were locked in a building during the crime.
A 56-year-old resident of the village and an about 30-year-old man who was reportedly suffering from mental illness were also killed.
“Their bodies were found together in a mango farm between Hla Taw Village and Kyi Kan (north) Village,” a representative of Wetlet information network told The Irrawaddy, adding that they had not been beheaded.
Regime troops also stole 51,500,000 kyats (about US$ 24, 600) and at least 20 mobile phones from the about 30 people seeking refuge at the monastery.
Regime advocates claimed on their Telegram channels that four members of PDFs were killed, but residents of the village said they were unarmed civilians.
“They always say all the people they killed are PDF members. Even people with mental illness are described as PDF members,” a representative of Wetlet Information Network told The Irrawaddy.
The troops returned to the Wetlet Town on Sunday, before returning to western Wetlet Township on Monday. Thousands of residents from 10 villages fled as the troops returned.
The regime’s military previously raided villages in Sagaing Township in the second week of August, torching more than 10 villages. Regime troops previously raided villages in adjacent Wetlet Township, displacing thousands of people.
