Six people including a child were killed by a local resistance force in the town of Saw in central Myanmar’s Magway Region on Sunday night, relatives and locals told Myanmar Now.
A group of at least 13 gunmen arrived at the house of 60-year-old Khin Maung Lin, the accused junta informant, at around 8pm.
They stormed the residence and shot at all who were present, including Khin Maung Lin, five of his family members, and four guests, said a relative who was not at the home at the time of the incident but had spoken to survivors.
He said that the casualties included Khin Maung Lin, his 59-year-old wife Yin Ngwe, 58-year-old brother Zaw Htay, 37-year-old daughter-in-law Khin Mar Thet, 13-year-old granddaughter Thet Nyein Aye, and guest Aung Thein Win, age 52.
Khin Maung Lin’s 11-year-old grandson and three other guests survived, the source added.
“They were not in any uniform, but in civilian clothes,” the relative told Myanmar Now. “They pointed their guns at them and shot them. The sides of their heads broke open.”
The 13-year-old girl was reportedly shot in the face, while Khin Maung Lin’s wife and daughter-in-law were shot in the chest.
He said that the assailants also stabbed the bodies of Khin Maung Lin and his brother with knives after shooting them.
“It seemed like they stabbed them to make sure they were dead. There was a lot of blood… very horrific.”
The attackers also took two cars, two motorbikes, gold jewellery and cash before fleeing the scene of the murders, said the relative. Funerals for the victims were held on Monday afternoon.
Two of the three guests who survived the attack were injured in the shooting and one is said to be in critical condition.
Saw is located near the border separating Magway and Sagaing, in an area known as the Yaw Region. It is also a stronghold of the armed resistance movement, where several anti-regime defence forces are active, including those under the direct command of the elected National Unity Government’s (NUG) ministry of defence.
The headquarters of one prominent local resistance group, the Yaw Defence Force (YDF), issued a statement on Monday claiming that its Saw chapter was responsible for the killings. It claimed that some of the victims were members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia, armed and trained by the Myanmar military, and that they were holding a meeting in Khin Maung Lin’s house.
The group also claimed that it had received complaints on five separate occasions from Saw locals that Khin Maung Lin and other Pyu Saw Htee members had been acting as military informants, guiding junta columns through the area, looting public property, selling drugs, and providing support to coup regime soldiers.
According to the YDF statement, when their members arrived at the house in question, other people in the area tipped off those inside. The YDF said they initially fired warning shots into the air, but said Khin Maung Lin, his brother Zaw Htay and guest Aung Thein Win attacked them with knives.
The YDF claimed that other people at the house, including Khin Maung Lin’s granddaughter Thet Nyein Aye, attempted to snatch the gun from a YDF member and was shot accidentally. Khin Maung Lin’s son Aung Aung Lin shot at them with his own gun and escaped the scene, they added.
The YDF’s statement also rejected the relative’s claim that its members looted money and jewellery as well as vehicles, saying that the group “seized” the property as “evidence.”
“The YDF is undertaking an investigation of the incident and will return this evidence to the owners after it has concluded,” the resistance group said.
Hours after the first statement on Monday, the YDF headquarters issued another statement vowing that if its members were found to have committed a crime, they would take action against the perpetrators and issue an apology to the family.
“We will also prevent similar incidents from happening in the future,” YDF said.
A Saw local denied the YDF allegation that Khin Maung Lin and his family had been involved in activities in collaboration with the junta.
“They have nothing to do with the military or the USDP,” the local said, referring to the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party. “But they have a family business and must deal with the authorities to obtain permission letters when they have to travel.”
Khin Maung Lin’s relative who spoke to Myanmar Now said there was no reason to target the bystanders.
“If they accused [Khin Maung Lin] of being an informant, can’t he just be the one who is punished? Other people were also killed. They took cars and gold. This is a robbery. They shot and killed everyone in an attempt to hide their crimes,” the individual said.
He urged the NUG to hold those who were involved in the attack accountable.
“I want them to be punished as they deserve. They killed people in such a cruel way,” he said.
Naing Htoo Aung, the secretary of the NUG’s defence ministry, told Myanmar Now that they were investigating the incident but refused to reveal further details.
