Pyu Saw Htee militia terrorises Magway villages after two of its members die in ambush, guerilla group says 

Members of the junta-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia raided two villages in Magway Region’s Pauk Township on Wednesday and burned and ransacked several houses, forcing hundreds of local residents to flee, resistance forces have said.

The attacks on the villages of Kokkosu and Tha Nat Pin Zin came after guerillas from the Anonymous Special Task Force killed two people during an attack on the home of two alleged Pyu Saw Htee leaders. 

The guerillas shot up the house of two men in their 50s named Aung San and U Toe at 6am on Wednesday. 

The men, who the Anonymous Special Task Force accuse of shooting and killing a Kokkosu villager named San Myaing, escaped the attack but another man and woman were killed.

“It didn’t end in a clash as we caught them off guard,” an officer from the guerilla group said. “They only shot back once before running away. We chased them. The two dead ones were cremated.” 

The house the group attacked “was like a common room for Pyu Saw Htee,” he added.

Hours after the attack, Pyu Saw Htee members from Kokkosu raided Tha Nat Pin Zin, which has about 100 residents, and ransacked eight houses, he said, adding that the next day Pyu Saw Htee members launched a raid in Kokkosu and destroyed 20 homes. 

“The ones left behind in Kokkosu continued to ransack the village. Half of the village’s population have fled. Only their supporters are left,” he said.

As well as killing San Myaing, Pyu Saw Htee members have also terrorised residents in the area, he said. “They broke stuff in the village. San Myaing warned them to stop their actions, so he became a target. They buried his body three days later on their own as well,” he added.

San Myaing was shot twice on January 26 and then captured by Pyu Saw Htee members, who held him at his home until he died of blood loss, the guerilla officer said. 

Aung San and U Toe, the two alleged Pyu Saw Htee leaders who escaped Wednesday’s attack, helped to give military training to 30 pro-junta villagers at the Yae Pyar Police Station, according to the officer.

Those trainees helped police and soldiers during raids targeting opponents of the junta, and were also the people responsible for destroying houses in Kokkosu, he said. 

“They were given G3 guns and they would fire shots along with the police officers from the Yae Pyar Police Station,” he said. “They do it once every two days. They would also accompany the soldiers and the police during searches. They were sometimes dressed in military and police uniforms but mostly they were plain clothed.” 

His group confiscated G3 rifles and bullets during the attack on the alleged Pyu Saw Htee member’s homes, he added. 

On February 5, Anonymous Special Task Force members and their allies captured and interrogated two other alleged Pyu Saw Htee members from Kokkosu named San Naing and Nang Tun, he said. 

They captured another man named Wai Tun, from a village called Zee Taw, on February 10. On the same day the alliance threw a grenade at the home of 50-year-old Tin Aye, an alleged Pyu Saw Htee leader. 

Myanmar Now has been unable to confirm the group’s allegations that the people it targeted were Pyu Saw Htee members. It has not been possible to contact survivors or affiliates of those killed for comment.