Myanmar junta troops have torched at least four villages in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region over the past four days, killing two people and displacing more than 10,000 residents.
On Thursday, around 300 regime soldiers began attacking villages on Yay Lae Kyun, an island at the confluence of the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers. The junta force split into three columns and torched the villages of Kyun Nyo, Nan Oo, Ku Ni and Nga Tayout, according to locals.
On Friday, they killed a 50-year-old woman in Kyun Nyo village.
“Civilians are in trouble because there is no forest in Yae Lae Kyun, so they are fleeing south when troops come from the north. The villagers are staying in the fields and fear for their lives amid shelling by junta soldiers,” a representative of Yesagyo Township People’s Security Force told The Irrawaddy.
The number of houses incinerated is currently unknown because troops are still active in Yay Lae Kyun, preventing villagers from returning to their homes, he added.
A Yesagyo resident said a 51-year-old man also died of a heart attack while fleeing from a junta raid.
“We are worried about not only about the three junta columns in Yay Lae Kyun but also another column in Myaung Township, just across a creek,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Combined local resistance forces clashed with regime troops in Yay Lae Kyun on Thursday and Friday. The Myingyan Black Tiger Force resistance group claimed that around 40 regime troops were killed and many wounded in the battles. One resistance fighter was also reportedly killed during the clashes.
Yay Lae Kyun lies on the border of Magwe, Sagaing and Mandalay regions and comprises more than 40 villages. Locals said that all villagers in the area have abandoned their homes amid the latest junta onslaught.
In late April, around 150 junta troops killed six Yay Lae Kyun civilians and torched around 100 houses in seven villages, Yesagyo Township People’s Administration reported.
In May, around 250 soldiers returned and killed another three civilians while torching 656 houses in 25 villages.
