12 civilian women killed in attack on minibus in Sagaing Region

A vehicle carrying female farmworkers came under attack on Tuesday in Sagaing Township in the region of the same name, resulting in the deaths of 12 women and injuries to three men, local sources said.The incident occurred as the vehicle—a small bus carrying the passengers to the fields where they worked—was leaving Kywei Pon village some 24 miles northwest of the town of Sagaing and less than two miles east of the Mu River. “There are three uphill slopes on the road to the northeast of the village. The attack happened on the last and steepest slope while the van was attempting to climb it. I heard that everyone still in the vehicle was killed,” a resident of Kywei Pon said. According to Sagaing Township residents, the slain women were farm workers and the injured men were the members of junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militias. “The women were ordinary civilians who worked on farms as hired hands,” a resident said. “The militia members were accompanying them as guards. I believe they were attacked because the assailants were after their weapons.” Kywei Pon village is known as a stronghold for the military and the junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militias. Troops of the Sagaing-based Infantry Division (ID) 33 are often stationed in the village. Local resistance groups told Myanmar Now last year that only Pyu Saw Htee members and their families were left in Kywei Pon village, as most residents had relocated to other villages in the township or to Sagaing. Members of the Sagaing Scout Network, a group known for reporting from the field in Sagaing Region, told Myanmar Now that the incident began with an exchange of gunfire between the militia members in the vehicle and another armed group. As the vehicle attempted to flee the scene during the shootout, it drove over explosives set by the armed anti-junta resistance, causing a blast that killed all 12 women. Locals said the attackers took three firearms from the vehicle after the explosion. Spokespersons for the military council released a statement about the attack on Tuesday night, claiming the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government were responsible. The junta’s statement described the attack as ‘unprovoked.’ The incident was also discussed extensively on pro-junta propaganda Telegram channels, one of which posted a photo of three deceased men whose identities were unclear. While there are rumours in Kywei Pon that three members of an armed group were killed in the shootout, Myanmar Now has been unable to confirm the information independently. Investigations are ongoing to identify the group that carried out the attack, and Myanmar Now is seeking information from the armed groups operating in the region. Spokespersons for a Sagaing Township-based resistance group called Taw Twin Tut Pi (named in reference to a popular cartoon) confirmed they had heard about the incident but had no clear information as to who was involved in the clash. A member of Sagaing District PDF Battalion acknowledged that there are some PDF members stationed in the vicinity of Kywei Pon, but said he was unaware of the incident. Satellite image of Kywei Pon village (Google Earth) Two military vehicles reportedly set off for Kywei Pon from the ID 33 base in Sagaing after the incident.On Wednesday morning, residents of neighbouring villages fled after hearing explosions nearby, which they believed to be caused by artillery fire. Around a week before Tuesday’s incident, another Pyu Saw Htee militia member residing in Kywei Pon was attacked while ploughing a field at the north end of the village. The attackers killed him at the scene and seized a firearm he had on his person, locals said. Kywei Pon was a site of anti-junta protests after the military seized power in Myanmar’s 2021 coup. As the armed resistance movement emerged in response to the coup, the junta deployed around 50 troops to the village and began recruiting and training civilians to serve in the Pyu Saw Htee militias. The militias’ membership grew as more civilians joined over the next three years, apparently due to difficult economic circumstances. “Although this village is seen as a Pyu Saw Htee stronghold, not everyone is involved. Some stayed behind due to lack of options or because their livelihoods were based here,” one villager said. “It's mostly men who took up arms,” he continued. “The military gave them about eight ‘pyi’ [just under one bushel or around 20 lbs] of rice per month for serving in the militia. Many, especially older men, joined the Pyu for the cash they offered.” With the help of the Pyu Saw Htee militias, the junta maintained steadfast control over much of Sagaing Region between the coup and the first phase of Operation 1027 in October of last year, which was concentrated primarily in northern Shan State but put the military on the defensive throughout Myanmar. During the period when the military was strongest in the area, junta troops stationed in Kywei Pon, often accompanied by Pyu Saw Htee members, became notorious for terrorising other villages in the vicinity with frequent raids and arson attacks. Despite their disadvantage in numbers and firepower, local resistance groups were known to retaliate occasionally with attacks on Kywei Pon.

12 civilian women killed in attack on minibus in Sagaing Region

The military council blamed the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) for the attack—which began with a shootout and ended when the vehicle triggered an explosive device, killing the women inside—but the identity of the attackers remains unconfirmed

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