Four members of the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia were killed in Sagaing Region’s Shwebo Township on Tuesday while acting as scouts for the military, according to local resistance sources.
The Pyu Saw Htee members were attacked between the villages of Sin Inn and Myin See, about 20km northwest of the town of Shwebo, at around 3pm, an officer of the Shwebo District People’s Defence Team told Myanmar Now.
“There were hidden scouts all along the highway. We only fired at them for five minutes, but they all ended up dead because we chose the smallest group to attack,” he said.
Several weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, three carbine guns, and three grenades, along with ammunition and four kevlar vests, were seized from the dead militia members, he added.
The bodies were retrieved by soldiers later that evening, according to the officer, who noted that Myin See—where a Pyu Saw Htee group was formed a year and a half ago—serves as a base for junta troops operating in the area.
Local defence teams say there are also soldiers and around 50 Pyu Saw Htee members in the nearby village of Sin Inn. The soldiers are stationed at the local police station, which was attacked by resistance forces last November.
Arson attacks carried out by junta troops since then have destroyed at least 1,000 houses in the area, according to locals.
Last week, the military was also accused of using explosives to kill residents of Kin Byar, a village located just west of Shwebo, after they were detained by occupying junta troops on June 16.
The badly mutilated bodies of five people, who were among eight taken hostage, were found the next day along the banks of the Mu River, local sources said.
Most Pyu Saw Htee members are armed with older weapons formerly used by junta soldiers and are thus easier to attack, according resistance sources.
Earlier this month, five members of the militia were captured during a raid on the village of Ingyinn Taung in Sagaing’s Mingin Township. Weapons and ammunition were also seized in that raid, which took place on June 8.
Last Thursday, another raid on a police station in Ta Pwin, a village in Magway Region’s Sidoktaya Township, resulted in the capture of two Pyu Saw Htee members.
A motorcycle and some supplies were seized during the raid and the police station was then torched, according to resistance sources.
