
Junta forces shot and killed four civilians in raids around Sittwe, Rakhine State, on Wednesday afternoon, arresting several others and destroying more than 100 residences, according to local sources.
The attacks targeted the large villages of Shwe Min Gan and Byine Phyu, located north of the capital city. Both communities have more than 1,000 households.
A junta unit of more than 100 troops carried out the raids, according to local Rakhine news reports. They arrested some 40 people during home searches, including both adults and children.
A local man assisting residents who fled the assault said that the four slain men were from Byine Phyu, and said that the military was pitting people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds against one another.
“They took the people from Byine Phyu outside the village and made them sit in a line beside the pool of drinking water. Then. . .