The military arrested eight men and burnt down people’s houses in Indaw Township as part of the dictatorship’s counter-insurgency operations against resistance forces in Burma’s Sagaing Region.
On Monday, an 80-member military column burned down houses in Nat Mahok Gyi after entering the village the previous day, said an officer of the Indaw People’s Defence Force.
“Last night, they stayed in the village where they detained some civilians and started burning houses around 8am,” he said, explaining that within a few hours they’d already set fire to three houses. Soldiers accused the men of being linked to the PDF after they were fingered by regime informants, the officer said, and tortured them during an interrogation in the village.
Nat Mahok Gyi has 500 inhabitants and 100 houses.
The PDF and Kachin Independence Army ambushed the column after they left the village and travelled in the direction of Kam Ni village on Monday, but it was unclear if there were any casualties.
Some of the soldiers stayed behind in Nat Mahok Gyi and the villagers fled the army.
According to the PDF, the military has burned down over 100 houses in the township since the coup.
