Regime troops killed six resistance members in less than a week in Sagaing’s Katha Township as tension escalates throughout the region.
Three members of a drone unit were killed by junta troops on Wednesday, a member of the Katha Township People’s Defense Force (PDF) said.
Junta troops also slit the throats of three resistance fighters during a raid of a village about eight kilometers from Katha Town on Dec. 16, a local official said.
Around 60 troops from the 66th Light Infantry Division and the pro-junta Shan Nationalities Army raided Pinmalut Village, arresting and killing three men.
Brang Shaun, 40, an information officer in the township’s PDF, Ko Jetli, 30, a member of a resistance logistical support unit, and Bauk Mai, 40, a resident of the village and resistance fighter, were killed during the Dec. 16 raid.
“They were caught off guard. Their throats were slit,” a member of the township’s people’s administration said. Phone lines were down, and village residents had not received a tip that a raid was imminent, the official explained.
He said the raid began suddenly at dawn. “It appears that someone tipped off junta soldiers about the presence of our comrades [in the village]. As soon as they entered the village, junta soldiers raided the house the three were staying in and torched it. The three were arrested together.”
Regime troops torched four other homes in the village, residents said.
A pro-junta Telegram channel said junta soldiers raided the house of a medical officer in Pinmalut Village, killing three PDF members and seizing their weapons.
Although there has been no fighting in Katha Township, junta troops deployed in Katha Town frequently raid nearby villages, village residents said.
Military tensions have been running high between junta troops and resistance forces in Katha Township. Junta troops have been building bunkers in Katha Town, residents say.
