The Burma Army (BA) murdered 4 villagers and burnt down 20 houses in Lae Ngao. More than 100 soldiers had been staying in the village in Sagaing Region for three days since 27 May and most of the residents had fled before they arrived.
“Three men were burnt alive and another man was slaughtered by the soldiers,” said a People’s Defence Forces (PDF) officer in Yin Mar Pin Township. The officer did not know the names of the victims, but believes that one of them was a labourer who was killed by the soldiers when he returned from digging a well.
“Although the BA column has already left, the villagers are still hiding in the jungle,” the officer said, explaining that Yin Mar Pin town, where the army maintains a camp, is only three miles away. Four months ago, soldiers burned down five houses in Lae Ngao, which has a total of 300 houses.
The BA has already burned down 10 villages in Yin Mar Pin Township, killing 50 civilians. In Patikon, the soldiers destroyed all the houses.
On Tuesday, a column of 140 BA soldiers shot up Guru village in Myin Mu Township, torching three houses and abducting 30 villagers to use as human shields, according to the local PDF. Two of the abducted villagers were injured by gunshot wounds. Other villagers managed to escape into the jungle.
According to the PDF, there was no fighting with the regime soldiers who came from Than Pin Kan, Chaung Oo Township.
“The column killed one villager in Pea Tawng and two other villagers were wounded by shelling. Soldiers raided houses in Let Pan and Taw Chaung Oo and stole valuable property and destroyed things.”
Last year, the junta launched the military operation “Anawrahta” against resistance groups in Sagaing Region and Chin State.
