Junta troops killed four villagers in Sagaing Township late last week following a series of raids on local defence team bases, according to resistance sources.
The bases, located east of the Mu River in the western part of the township, were attacked last Thursday by a column of around 100 regime soldiers that had crossed the Ayeyarwady River from Mandalay Region’s Ngazun Township.
Later in the day, the column captured four men hiding at a farm near Myin Se, a village about 30km west of the city of Sagaing, according to the commander of a People’s Defence Force (PDF) battalion active in the area.
“They captured and killed the four villagers from Myin Se at around 3:30pm,” said Deva, the Sagaing District PDF Battalion 8 commander.
The bodies of the victims—identified as Kyaw Tun Naing, Zaw Min, Tayzar Oo, and Thein Zaw—could not be retrieved until the following day due to the presence of the junta troops, he added.
Two women and a defence team member from the village of Ta Dar U were also reportedly detained on Friday. No information regarding their whereabouts was available at the time of reporting.
Residents of several villages, including Myin Se, Ywar Thit Gyi, Nga Ta Yaw, Ta Dar U, and Kin Taw, were displaced by the raids, locals told Myanmar Now.
According to one man who had been forced to flee, the regime forces were seen ferrying goods looted from the homes of displaced villagers back to Ngazun Township on Friday.
The defence teams targeted by the raids said they lost weapons, ammunition, and a vehicle. Two of their members were also injured, they added.
However, pro-junta Telegram channels claimed that several vehicles were seized and that the bodies of three resistance fighters were found at a monastery in Kin Taw along with a number of handmade weapons.
The resistance forces denied that any of their members were killed.
Earlier this month, junta forces killed five people, including three villagers and two defence team members, in northeastern Sagaing Township.
