Content warning: This article contains a photo and descriptions of military executions that might be disturbing for some readers.
Five of eight civilians taken hostage by the military in Sagaing Region’s Shwebo Township were found dead by locals over the weekend, their bodies dismembered in what survivors and members of the resistance say was an intentional explosion by junta troops.
In photos seen by Myanmar Now which were deemed too graphic for publication, the victims— some of whom had their hands tied behind their backs and had lost limbs—appeared to have been killed on the banks of the Mu River near Kin Byar village, which itself is one mile west of Shwebo town.
They were found on June 17, one day after they were detained by 40 occupying junta troops, and were identified as residents of the community. Among the slain men were Kyi Nyo, 60, and his two sons, 25-year-old ET and 30-year-old Myo Than Tun, as well as Ye Min Soe, 26, and Naing Lin, 30, who was from a neighbouring village. They were all cremated later that day.
“Two of the bodies were retrieved from the river. They had stomach wounds, with their intestines coming out,” said Maung Gyi, an officer for Kin Byar’s anti-junta defence team. “The three bodies found on land were badly mutilated as well.”
The soldiers believed to be responsible for the men’s murder had stayed in Kin Byar on the night of June 16 before leaving for Shwebo the next morning, burning 17 houses before exiting. They returned later that evening and set up a camp in the village.
Three hostages survived the arrest, including one who escaped on the evening of June 16 and two more who were released the next morning. They were reportedly made to witness the executions.
“I heard that the soldiers put mines between the five of them, tied their hands behind their backs, and detonated them,” village defence team officer Maung Gyi said.
Of the victims, only Naing Lin had any affiliation with the resistance movement, having formerly served in the defence team of another nearby village, where he was originally from.
An information officer for the Shwebo Township People’s Administration Team, a local anti-junta governance body, said that the site of the execution was the same location as where several Myanmar army soldiers were killed in an explosive attack on June 16 carried out by a local resistance force, speculating that the June 17 murders may have been an act of revenge against area residents.
“They executed the victims right in front of the survivors,” he said. “We found a short-circuited battery nearby and we knew it wasn’t ours, since our explosive devices had already been detonated in the first attack.”
Myanmar Now is unable to independently verify details that would confirm the use of explosives.
After the murders, pro-junta Telegram channels reported that five members of the anti-regime People’s Defence Force had been killed in a battle in the area.
