The junta’s armed forces fatally shot and wounded civilians who were out after the military-imposed 8pm curfew in the Kachin State town of Namti, in Mogaung Township, on Monday.
One man was killed and three were injured, locals told Myanmar Now.
Soldiers reportedly shot at a motorbike with a driver and one passenger near the intersection of Ah Hta Ka St and Thida Oo St at around 9:30pm. The passenger was shot in the head and killed on the spot, a local humanitarian group confirmed.
“People who lived nearby said they were told to stop their motorcycle,” a volunteer from the group said of the victims. “When they didn’t, shots were fired. He was sent to the Namti hospital, where the military had set up camp.”
Since the military has taken control of the hospital, information gathering has become difficult. Locals could only confirm that the deceased was a villager from Na Yan, but his identity was not known at the time of reporting.
The driver of the motorbike was also reportedly injured, but his condition remains unknown, a local source said.
“The man who was driving is in hiding. They’re being accused of having weapons,” the local said.
Before the incident at the Ah Hta Ka and Thida Oo junction, five young men who were returning home after fishing were shot at in Namti’s Myo Thar ward at around 9pm, leaving two injured.
One man was shot in the leg and taken into military custody. The other man, who was shot in the arm, went into hiding and his whereabouts were unknown at the time of reporting, locals said.
Residents of the town have speculated that the shootings of civilians are a response to May 8 explosions at the home of an alleged junta informant and a high school occupied by the military.
“After that, a lot of [troops] took over the township ward administration office,” a local said.
The military council has declared a curfew from 8pm until 4am in Namti.
As of Monday, 781 civilians have been killed by the regime’s armed forces since the February 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The military council has dismissed the AAPP’s figures as inaccurate on multiple occasions in recent weeks. A military spokesperson said during a CNN interview in early April that there had “only” been 248 deaths, including 10 policemen and 6 soldiers.
