Junta troops and pro-junta militias ended August as they began it, with deadly attacks on townships of Sagaing Region that border Mandalay, killing three civilians from Kantbalu in the final week of month, residents said.
Around 150 Myanmar regime troops from Light Infantry Battalion 361 and a Pyu Saw Htee militia traveled from Khin-U Township to Kantbalu Township on August 25 and raided Sesone Gyi and Ywar Thit villages, firing indiscriminately and forcing residents to flee.
The troops remained stationed at the two villages for four days and killed three residents, according to Kyun Hla, a local charity and information group. In Sesone Gyi Village they killed Naing Win Aung. The 37-year-old man was reportedly suffering from mental illness. In Ywar Thit Village two people were killed: U Maung Lwin, 49, and U Tun Aung, 54.
They also looted Ywar Thit Village, taking food, vehicles and valuables, the local charity said.
On Monday, the same troops entered Kantbalu Township’s Zee Kone Village, which has a sugar factory owned by the Myanmar military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation.
Thousands of residents of southern Kantbalu Township had fled after an early morning raid by junta forces the previous Wednesday. Residents from about 20 villages in the area fled at night while troops from the column opened fire during raids of Kyar Bat Kan and Boatkone villages, according to residents.
“The column split into another group and raided more villages. The Pyu Saw Htee militia from Zardi Village raided the villages. The residents fled again overnight. Myanmar junta troops spread out and fired heavy weapons while the villages were being raided,” a Kantbalu resident said.
More than 20,000 residents may be currently fleeing their villages the southern part of the township, according to Infinity Group, a local charity and information group.
Thousands of residents from northern Wetlet Township in southeastern Sagaing Region also fled regime troops last Wednesday. After junta troops stationed at Hla Taw Village raided Kyay Thee Kone Village, residents from about 10 nearby villages fled, they said.
“As people were fleeing during the heavy rain, we shared the tarpaulins, food and clothes. They are sheltering at farms and monasteries,” a spokesperson for the Wetlet Information Network told The Irrawaddy.
The troops killed nine people in villages near the border of Sagaing and Wetlet townships last week, including a 20-year-old pregnant woman who was gang raped before hers and her father’s throats were slit.
The troops left northern Wetlet for Shwebo Township, but residents of the area remain too fearful to return to their villages, they say.
