The bodies of six men who were detained by regime forces in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Township last week were discovered in three different locations on Wednesday, according to a local resistance source.
The victims were all taken into custody in the village of Ywar Thit last Tuesday by a column of around 60 junta soldiers searching for five individuals named on a list, a spokesperson for the local anti-regime people’s committee told Myanmar Now.
After finding one of the men they were looking for—20-year-old Aung Zeyar Phyo—they tortured him until he named five others who were also subsequently arrested, said the spokesperson.
“They interrogated and tortured Aung Zeyar Phyo to the brink of death, until he finally gave them the names of the others, who were not even on the list,” he said.
The others were identified as Aung Than Kyaw, Min Thu, and Kaung Kaung, who were all 20 years old, and Zaw Naing Win and Aung Naing Win, both in their 40s.
The bodies of Aung Naing Win and Zaw Naing Win were reportedly found west of Ywar Gyi, a village about 15km east of the town of Myingyan, on Wednesday and the other four were discovered the same day in two other places.
“Locals heard two cars in the area the night before, so we assumed that it was the military dumping the bodies,” said the people’s committee spokesperson, adding that the bodies were later collected by local social welfare groups.
The junta troops that captured and killed the six men also burned down the houses of the four individuals that they were unable to find.
“They ordered everyone in the village to come to the school with a list of their family members. When they were unable to track down the people they were looking for, they set fire to their houses,” said the spokesperson.
Badges on the shoulders of the soldiers indicated that they were from Light Infantry Division 88, based in Magway, he added.
