Myanmar military kills 4 villagers in Sagaing region raid

Junta troops killed four civilians in a raid on a village in Sagaing region’s Myinmu township, residents told RFA Tuesday.

More than 40 soldiers took part in Monday’s raid on Ywar Thar Lay, burning down three of the village’s 50 homes.

A resident, who didn’t want to be named for security reasons, told RFA a 30-year old man and three men in their 40s were shot dead by the troops.

“They had crossed the Ayeyarwady river to escape the fighting,” the local said.

“Four displaced people were killed and two were injured when the junta troops in Myinmu township raided Ywar Thar Lay village where those people were staying.”

Locals said the column has now left the village but junta raids continue on the other side of the river in Mandalay region.

On August 5, troops killed a 60-year-old man in Yae Lel Thaung, sending villagers fleeing across the Ayeyarwady, thinking it was safer in Myinmu township.

The junta hasn’t released a statement on the fighting.

RFA called the junta spokesperson for Sagaing region, Saw Naing and the spokesperson for Mandalay region, Thein Htay, but they did not answer.

Nearly 4,000 civilians have been killed by the junta since it seized power in a February 2021 coup according to independent monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

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