Burma Army soldiers (BA) killed two innocent civilians and two members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in battle during the junta’s offensive against the group opposing the dictatorship in Indaw Township, Sagaing Region.
A PDF officer said a column of 68 BA soldiers kidnapped Maung Oo, 37, of Hing Nu, to use as a human shield and then shot him at the battle site in cold blood on 29 September. He said the column clashed with his group at 4pm that day between Meza and Indaw towns.
On the same day, another BA column, which consisted of 175 soldiers, beat 39-year-old Thein Tan to death while he was travelling by motorcycle from Mang Hton and Aung Kon.
According to the PDF officer, the column shot the two resistance fighters when they were laying landmines at 9am. “Some BA soldiers were also killed during the clashes, but we cannot say how many,” he told KNG.
The two columns eventually merged and some of them entered Mang La, where they opened fire on arrival and abducted a mentally disabled man, two women and three Buddhist monks, whom they released a few hours later. Some soldiers stayed there overnight while others slept in Le Nawng.
“Some of the villagers had already fled before the BA soldiers arrived and didn’t return until this morning,” a local who wishes to remain anonymous told KNG.
Starting on September 24, 400 regime soldiers arrived in Indaw Township to wrestle control of the area from the PDF. On September 28, they set fire to four houses in Aung Kon.
