Junta forces raided a base of the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Monywa, Sagaing Region on Wednesday, shooting and killing four members of the resistance group and two civilians before burning their bodies.
At 5am, the Myanmar army troops fired heavy artillery at the camp of the second squadron of the Monywa District PDF’s Battalion 27 near Ye Kan Su village, some nine miles northeast of Monywa town, before overrunning the site.
Soe Gyi, the commander of Battalion 27 of the PDF, said around 80 soldiers carried out the attack.
Two women and two men in the PDF were captured and executed by the military. Soe Gyi identified them as A Thay Lay, 17; Zin Zin Oo, 18; Khin Yadanar Oo, 20; and B.E, 24.
“They raided us while we were lining up for morning exercise,” he told Myanmar Now. “Shots were fired and two male members [of the PDF] were left behind after being hit with heavy weapons. The two women were captured while hiding.”
Soe Gyi added that a 50-year-old man from Ye Kan Su was also shot dead by the junta soldiers near the PDF base, and a 20-year-old man was killed in the village while trying to flee by motorcycle.
By the time he and the other PDF members were able to return to the village once the troops had left, the six bodies had already been burned and almost entirely reduced to ashes.
Nine motorcycles, as well as weapons, ammunition, communication devices and uniforms belonging to the resistance group were reportedly lost in the raid.
The junta column responsible for the attack continued to assault villages in the area on Thursday morning, forcing residents of at least six communities to flee their homes.
At the time of reporting, no information had been released by the military council concerning the attacks around Monywa this week.
