One 21-year-old man was killed and four others were arrested during a police raid on a home in the village of Hintha in Magwe Region’s Yesagyo Township, according to local sources.
The police who carried out the raid came to the village in an ambulance on Sunday afternoon, an eyewitness said.
Nine civilians were present in the house that was targeted in the assault—four men, two women, and three children, including one teenager.
One of the men, Chit Ye Yint, was shot in the forearm and died on the way to the hospital. The three other men and one teenaged boy were taken into junta custody, according to the eyewitness.
They included Soe Thu, 30; Paing Soe Oo, 25; Kyaw Zaw Hein, 20; and Ant Bwe Oo, 17.
Paing Soe Oo is the owner of the house and is believed to have participated in anti-coup activities and protests, according to villagers, although the reason for the raid was not confirmed.
“The ambulance came in first and a pick-up truck was behind it. The guys were minding their own business and were unarmed,” a second villager said.
“They surrounded the house and opened fire. One of the guys was startled by the gunfire and tried to flee through a window. The police shot him,” the man said, referring to Chit Ye Yint.
“He was bleeding a lot but the police took him on the truck anyway, lying on his stomach. He died on the way to hospital,” he said.
Villagers speculated that the junta-appointed villager administrator had informed the police about the young men’s whereabouts. Soon after the raid, the administrator and his family members were relocated by the military council to another area in what locals say was an effort to prevent them from being the target of reprisals.
Following the police ambush on Hintha, many of the village’s residents fled to other areas, according to local sources.
Myanmar Now was unable to verify the villagers’ claim.
Local resistance fighters based near the border between Magwe and Sagaing regions told Myanmar Now that the military has been carrying out “clearance operations” in villages along the Chindwin River since last week.
The Chindwin River runs through Yesagyo Township; the village of Hintha is on the western bank.
Last Thursday, junta troops raided a People’s Defence Force (PDF) camp in another Yesagyo village, Ma Au. Junta forces also seized weapons and ammunition from a monastery compound in Shwe Hlan, also in Yesagyo, on the east side of the Chindwin.
At the time of reporting, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said that at least 1,013 civilians have been killed by the junta since the February 1 coup and more than 7,400 people arrested.
