The military shot and killed six anti-junta defence team members in Sagaing Region on Tuesday after capturing them in battle and subjecting them to torture, the resistance groups said.
Nay Myo Aung, the leader of the Wetlet Township People’s Defence Team, stated that they fought a junta column of around 100 soldiers between the villages of Saing Naing Lay and Bone Bwet.
According to an information officer for the group, the victims were identified as Aung Naing, 36; Kyi Khine, 45; Ye Min Htay, 24; and Lin Aung, 37, who were all members of a local village defence team; as well as two members of the GZ Special Task Force-Wetlet: Thurein Htet, 25, and Yan Naing Soe, 18.
The number of resistance fighters present during the battle is still unknown.
“The battle took place in a sesame field. They had nowhere to run and were shot and arrested. They only had a few handmade rifles among them,” a leader of the defence team said.
The GZ Special Task Force claimed that its deceased members had been fighting for the release of five villagers from the nearby community of Yin Taw who had been taken hostage by the military. They appeared to have been shot in the legs at the time they were apprehended, according to the GZ Special Task Force leader, and their bodies showed signs of torture.
“They were captured and killed while trying to rescue the five hostages. The hostages were released, but we still lost the battle after about 15 minutes, because we weren’t well-armed,” said GZ, the leader of GZ Special Task Force.
“They were shot in the lower body and had their fingernails removed. They were all ultimately shot in the head,” he added.
While it is still not certain which side fired the first shot, GZ assumed that his own fighters initiated the clash.
“We hadn’t been in any battles for a while but two of our troops started to shoot at them, hoping to rescue the hostages who were inside the monastery. Our troops took the risk,” he said.
The GZ Special Task Force has engaged in few battles since the Wetlet Township People’s Security Force examined and interrogated 19 members of the resistance group in February in connection with the killing of a defence team leader in Sar Taung Gyi village. The group received a warning not to carry out further attacks after four of its members were jailed for conspiracy to commit murder.
The bodies of the deceased GZ Special Task Force members were recovered, then cremated on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Resistance forces have engaged in fierce conflict with junta forces near Wetlet for months despite difficulties in accessing weapons and equipment.
Starting from late February, three columns of junta troops advanced into Wetlet from Kyauk Myaung, Shwebo Township, initiating attacks and torching houses near the township’s administrative centre. Several residences in at least 12 communities were destroyed in the arson attacks.
The junta columns stationed themselves in Wetlet town, Ywar Thar Gyi village—seven miles southwest of the town—and Hla Taw village, three miles north of Ywar Thar Gyi.
The Hla Taw-based column clashed with defence teams near Kyee Kan village some 10 miles west of Wetlet, on March 2. Four members of the village defence team were killed, and three civilians were shot dead in an encounter with the soldiers.
Wetlet Township is one of 14 townships in Sagaing Region where the military council imposed martial law in February of this year, having failed to establish control in the two years since the 2021 coup.
