Two hostages, including elderly disabled woman, killed by Myanmar junta troops in Magway

Regime forces killed two villagers taken hostage during military operations in Magway Region, including an elderly woman with a disability, while burning nearly 400 homes in eastern Salin Township since late April, local resistance forces said. The victims were identified as Maung Naing, a man in his 40s, and a woman in her 70s from the village of Hta Naung Kone, according to Pyi Thu, information officer for the resistance group Pyithu Nyi Naung (Salin). The killings occurred April 29 as junta troops advanced in two columns from Hta Naung Kone to the nearby village of Kan Swei. The deceased were among four civilians—including a novice monk from a local monastery—abducted by the soldiers. “After taking the hostages, they advanced into Kan Swei and set it on fire,” Pyi Thu told Myanmar Now. “Maung Naing was killed there by having his throat slit, while the elderly woman was thrown into the flames.” The military column responsible for the killings has repeatedly burned civilian homes during operations in the area since late April, anti-regime groups said. From late April through early May, nearly 400 homes in the villages of Hta Naung Kone, Pyoe Khin Kone and Sintu Kan were destroyed by fire, along with livestock and stored crops, according to local resistance fighters. The junta column reportedly withdrew to the town of Salin on May 1 but then continued their advance with about 100 troops two days later, triggering clashes with resistance forces. As fighting intensified, the column again retreated to Salin the next day, sources said. More than 6,000 residents from over 20 villages in eastern Salin Township have fled their homes because of the fighting and have not yet returned, according to local resistance officials. Although troops have temporarily pulled back to Salin, artillery positions remain near the village of Myin Khaung, and military camps have been established in two other villages in the area, Kan Taing Kwayt and Ah Shey Kan Baung, Pyi Thu said. “What we have heard is that this is part of a 100-day operation in Salin Township, pushing into the north and the east,” he added. The renewed operations follow failed resistance offensives launched in December to seize Salin and Sinphyukyun, another town about seven miles to the north. Both towns are considered strategically important because of their proximity to junta weapons factories west of the Ayeyarwady River. Following fighting in Sinphyukyun, the military established eight checkpoints along the Salin-Sinphyukyun road and fortified positions near Nwe Ta Mei Bridge and nearby villages, according to resistance officials. The military regime has intensified operations in central and northwestern Myanmar in recent months, including in Magway, Sagaing, and Mandalay regions, as well as Chin State. Since late April, junta forces have reinforced troop deployments in the Yaw region of northern Magway and sent a column of hundreds of troops into neighbouring Pauk Township, resistance groups said. Junta forces and allied militia groups have destroyed more than 120,000 homes in arson attacks since the military seized power in 2021, according to an April report by the civil society organisation Data for Myanmar. The report said Magway Region has recorded about 18,000 destroyed homes, the second-highest total in the country.

Two hostages, including elderly disabled woman, killed by Myanmar junta troops in Magway

Regime forces advancing through Magway’s Salin Township have also torched hundreds of homes there since late last month

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