A woman who belonged to a local defence team in Sagaing Region’s Ayadaw Township was captured and killed by regime forces on Sunday, according to the group’s leader.
Thidar Myint, 43, was acting as a scout for the defence team, called the Danger Force, when she was caught during a raid on the group’s base, its leader, Maung Lay, told Myanmar Now.
“They tied her hands behind her back and shot her. Her body was burned inside a hut,” he said.
The base, which was located between the villages of Kan Phyu and Wah Yaung Taw, about 7km west of the town of Ayadaw, was also destroyed in the raid, he added.
Two barracks were set on fire and weapons and ammunition were also lost, according to Maung Lay.
The group attempted to defend the base, but was forced to retreat because it was heavily outgunned by the junta troops, who were also holding civilians as human shields, he said.
One member of the Danger Force was injured in the fighting, and an unknown number of hostages was later released, he added.
Earlier this month, the group lost some 7 million kyat (US$3,300) worth of equipment to a fire caused by an electrical short circuit at a weapons production centre.
On Sunday, the Danger Force warned local civilians to avoid the Monywa-Ayadaw road, as the regime forces were continuing their attacks in the area.
The troops responsible for the raid were said to be based in the town of Ayadaw, which is about 40km northeast of Monywa, where the headquarters of the Northwestern Regional Military Command is located.
The eastern part of Ayadaw Township has come under attack repeatedly over the past week. On May 23, junta forces killed at least five civilians in the village of Taung Mwar and torched more than 100 homes there, according to locals.
Dozens of houses were also destroyed in other villages in the area, according to Ayadaw Township’s anti-regime People’s Administration Team, which claims to control 128 of the township’s 155 villages.
On Monday, around 800 people were reportedly forced to flee army attacks on the villages of Kyun Pho Pin, Tone Tin Kan and Wah Yaung, according to the People’s Administration Team.
Earlier this year, resistance forces carried out a number of attacks on junta targets in Ayadaw Township, including police stations and army outposts.
