Junta forces kill two civilians in raid on village in central Myanmar’s Magway Region

Regime forces killed two civilians during a predawn raid on a village in Magway Region’s Myaing Township on Wednesday, according to local residents and resistance sources. A column of junta troops backed by members of the pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia carried out the raid on Kan Thit, a village located in the western part of the township, sources told Myanmar Now. “Two villagers, one from Kan Thit and one from Tha Min Oke, were shot dead by junta troops,” said an officer of Myaing Township’s anti-regime People Defence Team. The deceased were identified as Aung Zaw Oo and Nang Aung, who both died of gunshot wounds to the head. A camp set up by a local defence team near Kan Thit was also destroyed in the raid, according to the People’s Defence Team officer. Aung Ko, a Kan Thit villager, said he and his family rushed to flee the village when they were woken up by the sound of gunfire and shelling at around 5am on Wednesday. “Our family narrowly evaded capture by junta troops as we headed to the west side of the village with our cart,” he said. Some villagers who fled to the north side of the village were captured, he added. Local sources claimed that at least 40 villagers, including a pregnant woman and three children, were detained and used by the soldiers as human shields. “We still don’t know their whereabouts,” a Kan Thit villager said on Thursday. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify the number of people being held by the regime forces. The aftermath of a blaze set by regime troops who raided the village of Kan Thit in Magway’s Myaing Township on May 8 (Supplied) Residents said the soldiers set fire to at least 10 houses in the village before leaving at around noon, adding that some young villagers who returned soon after were able to extinguish the fires before they could spread. Regime troops also seized a light truck and five motorcycles, the Kan Thit residents claimed. Meanwhile, the village remains on high alert as another junta column has been seen advancing near Twin Ma, a village less than seven miles to the southwest. Intense fighting erupted between junta troops and local resistance forces in Myaing Township in April. The regime forces suffered heavy losses during a week of clashes that began on April 14, according to resistance fighters based in the area.

Junta forces kill two civilians in raid on village in central Myanmar’s Magway Region

The victims were both shot in the head as residents of the village in Myaing Township fled the predawn raid

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