Remains of 12 abducted Magway residents uncovered after 3 years

The remains of 12 displaced men who were abducted and killed after encountering a junta column three years ago have been excavated in Myaing Township, Magway Region. Locals were able to recover the bodies following a tip-off by a mushroom forager who stumbled across the burial sites. The deceased ranged from 15 to 61 years old, including nine from Gwaykone village, and one each from Magyikone, Thanchaung, and Magyikan villages. All of them were internally displaced persons, according to Sayar Htwe from the Myaing-based Anyar Myay Civil Society Organisation. On the morning of June 9, 2023, a junta army column departed from the military’s Heavy Industry 2 factory near Myaing town and advanced toward the Well 2 oil field. On the way, the regime forces abducted 12 men from nearby villages, including those displaced from Gwaykone village, just over two miles away from the factory. On October 4, a mushroom forager stumbled across the burial sites and discovered skeletons, ropes, and clothes in two earth pits on the forested outskirts of Wetpoke village, about five miles from Gwaykone. Regime troops and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia members had stationed themselves in Wetpoke before resistance forces captured it in August 2024. After recovering the citizenship card, student card, and driving license of Aung Zin Hein—a Gwaykone resident who was among those arrested—it was confirmed that the bodies were those of the 12 people arrested by the junta three years ago, said Sayar Htwe of the Anyar Myay group. Twenty-six year-old Aung Zin Hein was abducted after running into the junta army column on his way back from training in Yangon, where he was preparing to depart to Japan for work, he added. After losing contact with the 12 men in 2023, their deaths were confirmed a year later when resistance forces seized Wetpoke and retrieved a document stating that the men were killed on June 11, two days after their abduction. Although their deaths were confirmed in 2024, the location of the bodies were only finally discovered on Sunday. “The first pit contained six people. They were not buried systematically, just tossed in haphazardly, all curled up. They were tied up with ropes, without sarongs or trousers,” said Sayar Htwe, who helped in the excavation of the bodies. Another pit was discovered nearby, containing the other six bodies, he added. Myanmar Now is now trying to contact family members of the victims. The Anyar Myay organisation released a statement revealing that the mass killing was orchestrated by Wetpoke Pyu Saw Htee leader Win Ngwe and junta Sgt. Bo Phyu, who was stationed at the village. Win Ngwe was killed in 2024 during clashes with resistance forces, while Bo Phyu escaped to the Heavy Industry 2 factory when resistance forces attacked Wetpoke. Myanmar Now repeatedly tried to contact San Nyunt Aung, the junta’s Magway Region spokesperson, for comment on the incident, but was unable to reach him.

Remains of 12 abducted Magway residents uncovered after 3 years

The bodies of the men killed by regime and Pyu Saw Htee troops from Myaing Township in 2023 were recovered after being discovered by a mushroom forager

Subscribe for full access

Myanmar charity worker who built a lifeline for the poor loses it all after military coup

Fear grips Mandalay as junta-backed militias and kidnappers prey on residents

For Myanmar migrants in Thailand, hope is a 100-baht lottery ticket

‘Will it be different this time, Grandson?’

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Sagaing resistance group surrenders weapons to NUG, dissolves after leader’s killing

At least two killed in blast in Myanmar’s Rakhine state capital

Nighttime junta airstrike kills 2 and injures 6 in Pauktaw Township

Suu Kyi speaks to son for first time in more than five years