Warning: Graphic Content
A local resistance member from Than Bo Village in Sagaing Region’s Khin-U Township was beheaded and another was shot dead by regime troops on Monday, according to local sources.
A resistance group from Than Bo said the deceased members encountered the regime troops while on a scouting mission.
“Two local resistance members were tortured and killed by junta soldiers. One was shot dead and one was beheaded. They also hung the head from a tree,” a spokesperson for the village’s resistance group said.
The bodies of the two dead fighters—one of them headless with hands tied behind the back—were found near the No. 2 Mandalay-Myitkyina Road between Than Bo Village and Kyogan Village, according to the group. The two bodies were about 200 feet apart and the head of a resistance member was hanging from the tree where it was left by junta troops.
Two other residents of Than Bo were also arrested by regime troops on the same day, according to local sources.
“Two residents of Than Bo Village were also captured by the regime troops. One of the detainees, who is 60 years old, was released later. The other is still detained,” a resident of Than Bo said.
The regime troops involved are from the No. 8 Military Training School in Shwe Bo Township. Troops based there have been carrying out a series of raids and arson attacks throughout Khin-U and Ye-U townships since February, according to the witnesses.
The same troops killed another two resistance members from Ma Gyi Oak Village on Feb. 27, according to the Khin-U resistance forces.
Regime forces have ramped up their atrocities against civilians and local resistance forces in Sagaing, where martial law has been declared by the regime.
A task force of around 100 regime solders under the Myanmar military’s Division 99 committed a series of raids in Ayadaw, Myinmu and Sagaing townships in Sagaing. It killed and beheaded 20 resistance members and massacred 16 civilian detainees, including three women who were raped before being killed, from Feb. 23 to March 5.