Regime forces shot and killed a farmer while he was irrigating his field in Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township on Wednesday, according to sources.
The troops, part of a reinforcement column advancing through the area, opened fire when they encountered the 58-year-old man and two others from the village of Hla Htway at around 2am, a member of a local resistance force told Myanmar Now.
“The column advanced at night to avoid detection and came across the farmers directly in their path. When they spotted the men, they just shot right at them,” the resistance fighter said.
The other two men, aged 34 and 42, managed to escape, but the body of the older man was later found in a rice field between Hla Htway and the neighbouring village Yae Twin Kone, he added.
Junta troops from the towns of Sadaung and Shwebo began advancing toward Wetlet Township on Monday, with the column from Sadaung entering southern Wetlet the next day and the Shwebo column moving in from the north on Wednesday.
In addition to the shooting, there have also been reports of regime soldiers raiding villages in the area and forcing residents to act as guides.
One such raid occurred in the village of Mauk Ka Dee, where several residents were reportedly taken captive; some have since been released, but an estimated 10 to 25 are still being held, sources said.
In late October, following a clash between junta forces and local resistance fighters near the village of Ywar Thar Gyi in Wetlet Township, the regime launched airstrikes and sent around 150 reinforcements.
Junta troops have been stationed in Ywar Thar Gyi, located at the junction of the Shwebo-Mandalay and Wetlet-Monywa roads, since 2022.
On Wednesday morning, troops from Ywar Thar Gyi set fire to the nearby villages of Ywar Taung Kone and Ta Mar Kone, according to the Wetlet Informational Group, which monitors conflict in the area.
Later the same day, the junta column that arrived from Shwebo raided Saing Naing Kwayt, a village on the Shwebo-Mandalay road. Junta forces have established strongholds in multiple villages along the road, including Saing Naing Kwayt, Ywar Thar Gyi, and Hla Taw.
The ongoing military operations are part of a broader strategy to expand junta control over key routes and regions in the area.
Many villagers in southern Wetlet Township, including those from Ywar Thar Gyi, Htone Bo, and surrounding areas, have been displaced due to the advancing columns. These displaced people are in urgent need of food, medicine, shelter, and clothing.
While Wetlet Township is not included in the upcoming elections, neighbouring Shwebo and Sagaing townships will take part in the first phase of the polls on December 28.
