Myanmar junta forces kill seven, destroy village in Myingyan Township

Seven people were killed and an entire village was reduced to ashes during a raid by a Myanmar army column of around 100 troops in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Township last Friday (April 3), according to local sources. The attack began in the morning and targeted Hpet Pin Aing, a village located on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River about 25 miles northeast of the town of Myingyan, the sources said. According to the Myingyan Township People’s Movement Committee, the junta troops used both light and heavy weapons, as well as drones, to attack the village. The column started torching houses as soon as it entered the village, the group added. Four of the victims were reportedly killed by bombs dropped from drones, while the others were shot as they attempted to flee. “The raid was very sudden. There was no time to run. Almost the entire village’s houses are gone,” a local man in his 40s told Myanmar Now. “A 37-year-old man was carrying his mother, who had been wounded by a drone, when another bomb was dropped on him. Both mother and son passed away,” he added. Three men and four women were killed during the raid, sources said. Many others were injured, including some who were still in their homes when the arson attacks began. There were also unconfirmed reports that several resistance fighters based near the village were killed, but further details were not available at the time of reporting. A street in Hpet Pin Aing after the village was destroyed by junta arson attacks on April 3 (Photo: Supplied) Hpet Pin Aing was a peaceful agricultural village of around 1,200 people before the start of Myanmar’s civil war. However, due to its location between Myingyan and Si Mee Khon, a village that hosts a junta naval port on the Ayeyarwady River, it has become part of an active conflict zone, with both regime and resistance forces maintaining a presence in the area. Due to the current military situation, tens of thousands of people have been displaced from at least 15 villages in Myingyan Township, with many in need of food, clothing, and shelter. Myingyan District, which includes Myingyan, Taungtha, and Natogyi townships, borders parts of Magway and Sagaing regions that are also considered strongholds of the resistance. This has made it a key battleground, as many pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias are also active in the area. The regime has also been conducting offensives further south, in Mandalay Region’s Kyaukpadaung Township, where junta columns have carried out a number raids over the past month, destroying villages and killing civilians. In early March, the villages of Seikhtein and Kanhpyu in Kyaukpadaung were attacked repeatedly, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of homes and the death of at least three elderly residents who were unable to flee. Later in the month, a junta raid on the village of Inpingyi, on the road from Kyaukpadaung to Chauk Township in Magway Region, left five people dead, including a woman in her 20s who was reportedly raped and four men who showed signs of being tortured before they were murdered.

Myanmar junta forces kill seven, destroy village in Myingyan Township

The entire village of Hpet Pin Aing lies in ruins after regime troops targeted it in a raid late last week

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