Junta soldiers have looted and then torched people’s homes, eaten their animals and dumped weedkiller into a pond they use to provide water for their livestock after battles with resistance forces in northern Shan State.
“They destroyed everything in our village and took everything of value from people’s houses,” said a man from Sin Li Kawng Ra, who was hiding in the jungle with other residents. He said the soldiers also torched two vehicles and three motorbikes
Sin Li Kawng Ra is an ethnic Kachin village of 30 houses located about 18 miles from Namtu town.
According to another local, who also didn’t want to reveal his identity for fear of reprisals, some animals died after drinking the poisoned pond water in the village in Namtu Township.
The BA has been clashing with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the People’s Defence Force in the township since 24 September, when several junta columns entered the areas controlled by KIA Brigade 4 (Battalion 8). At the same time, the BA’s command headquarters in Namtu town has been shelling the resistance groups with artillery and shells have landed in Sin Li Kawng Ra, Mang Jat and Kon Kayar along the road from Namtu to Mangton.
“They’ve committed human rights violations. We want the world to know what the BA is doing here,” said the second source. He said soldiers are staying in Mang Jat, preventing residents from returning to their homes. At the same time, some Ta’ang residents of Kon Kayar have returned and found that the soldiers haven’t destroyed any of their houses.
