Regime Forces Torture and Kill 29 People in Upper Myanmar

By The Irrawaddy 16 May 2022

Myanmar junta troops have killed 29 people since May 10 in Sagaing Region’s Ye-U Township, according to local resistance groups and residents.

Two of the victims were resistance fighters, while the rest were civilians from a number of villages who were detained by regime forces and taken to Mone Taing Ping Village, where they were killed, said a resistance fighter.

One member of the Ye-U Township People’s Defense Force (PDF) said: “Some of the victims were shot dead. Some of them had their hands tied. Some of the bodies bear signs of torture and of being burned alive.”

The Irrawaddy was unable to verify the claim of people being burned alive. Ye-U PDF has not been able to identify all the victims, added the resistance fighter.

Around 200 junta soldiers from Sagaing’s Taze Township arrived in Mone Taing Ping Village around 6am on May 10. Two resistance fighters who were preparing to plant mines encountered the troops and were shot dead. A clash followed at the bridge leading to Mone Taing Ping around 8.30am.

Military regime troops then deployed in Mone Taing Ping and abducted and killed residents from neighboring villages, according to local sources.

“After that [junta] column returned to Ye-U, we together with a few residents went to the village on May 12, before another column arrived. Another column is now at the village. Locals are still unable to return to their homes,” a resistance fighter told The Irrawaddy on Saturday.

Subsequently, junta soldiers seized PDF uniforms during a raid on Ponnaka Village and then disguised themselves as PDF fighters and vandalized properties in a number of villages, said local residents.

“They torched houses in Hsi Sone village near Mone Taing Ping around 4pm on May 10. The following day, they raided Ponnaka Village where they got the PDF uniforms. They busted things up in Inn Pin Village disguised as PDF members,” said a local.

Regime troops reportedly torched 29 houses and damaged a fire engine in Mone Taing Ping Village, and also raided a number of nearby villages on Saturday.

At Kan Pauk Village, two members of the village defence force were injured by junta artillery strikes ahead of regime forces arriving in the village.

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