Regime forces shot and killed seven members of a People’s Defence Force (PDF) group in Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township on Wednesday, according to resistance sources.
The incident occurred while the PDF members were setting explosives near Yay Htwet, a village located about 15km west of the town of Wetlet, a spokesperson for the Wetlet PDF told Myanmar Now.
“It wasn’t exactly a clash. Our men were trying to set up an attack when they were surrounded by a backup unit of junta soldiers,” said the spokesperson.
The victims, who were not identified by name, were all in their 20s and members of Battalion 1 of the Shwebo District PDF, he added.
According to a member of their group, the seven PDF fighters were captured alive by the junta unit of around 60 soldiers and later executed.
“We only had light weapons, and they kept firing at us with heavy weapons. We tried to fight back, but seven of us were captured alive and then fatally shot at close range,” he said.
The army column, which had been carrying out attacks on villages along the Shwebo-Mandalay road, also seized five rifles from the resistance forces, he added.
The bodies of the victims were cremated after being retrieved later the same day, according to the Shwebo District PDF member.
Photos shared on pro-regime social media accounts showed that three of the PDF fighters had been shot in the head, but the injuries of the other four could not be clearly seen.
The day before the incident, two members of a local defence team were captured and killed by junta scouts in Mauk Kyo, a village about 3km from Yay Htwet.
“They got caught when they ran into the scouts, who had stayed behind after the rest of their column left,” said the PDF member.
Last month, junta troops carried out a series of raids on villages in Wetlet and neighbouring townships that left at least 14 people, including a 14-year-old boy and other civilians, dead.
