Myanmar’s junta forces tortured and killed three resistance fighters, who were captured during a raid on a resistance camp in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region, on Thursday.
One of the victims was beheaded and a former captain, who recently defected from the military, was captured.
Around 90 junta “Ogre Column” soldiers raided Sagaing District People’s Defense Force (PDF) Battalion 1’s base in Swal Lwal O village in the south of the township on Thursday morning.
Bo Sin Yine, the group’s deputy commander, and two 19-year-olds were detained and killed shortly after.
Bo Sin Yine’s decapitated body was retrieved on Thursday and his funeral was conducted without his head, according to resistance forces.
His head was discovered on Friday after junta troops left the village.
“His head had a six-inch cut in the back and both ears were missing,” Ko Lu Lin, the leader of the Myinmu Civil Revolution Force, who helped retrieve the bodies, told The Irrawaddy.
Bo Sin Yine escaped during the raid but returned to find his friend, a former captain who recently defected from the military and is now missing.
“We used a drone to track them and saw regime soldiers cutting off his head,” Ko Lu Lin said.
A drone video seen by The Irrawaddy shows around 15 regime troops surrounding the detainee and one soldier chopping his head off. Two soldiers beside him are holding knives.
A soldier then carries the head away. The video was later shared by resistance groups as evidence of junta war crimes.
The teenagers’ bodies were found with one shot in the head and the other in the groin.
Ko Nway Oo, leader of the Civilian Defense and Security Organization of Myaung resistance group, said the resistance fighters were unable to defend themselves as they lacked proper weapons.
“Despite being a PDF loyal to the civilian National Unity Government, the battalion has only two automatic rifles. Unluckily, they were both being used by a patrol at the time of the raid,” said Ko Nway Oo.
All of Swel Lwal O’s villagers escaped the day before the raid when junta troops arrived at a nearby village.
On Thursday morning, resistance groups used a drone to bomb junta troops in Swal Lwal O and more than 12 soldiers are believed to have been killed or injured, Ko Nway Oo said.
The Ogre Column recruits from Light Infantry Battalion 708, which is led by Lieutenant Colonel Tun Lin Aung.
Since February 23 it has raided resistance strongholds in Ayadaw, Myinmu, Sagaing and Myaung townships in Sagaing Region and Yesagyo Township in Magwe Region, killing nearly 50 resistance fighters and civilians.
It has beheaded and mutilated resistance fighters and killed many civilian detainees, raping women before killing them.
An estimated 42 Ogre Column troops were killed in resistance attacks in Myaung Township between March 12 and 23, while the unit raided villages and resistance bases in Myaung and Yesagyo townships. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
The Ogre Column returned to Myaung Township on Wednesday after being reinforced in Myinmu Township.
