Myanmar military kills 17 People’s Defense Force members

Junta troops killed 20 people in a raid on a People’s Defense Force camp in Sagaing region and neighboring villages, locals and a militia official told RFA Tuesday.

A column of around 50 troops raided the camp east of Kin Taw village in Sagaing township on Sunday morning.

They killed 17 defense force members, according to a leader of the local PDF.

“The junta troops came by boat and raided the camp early in the morning … when there were no guards, and all the PDF members were killed,” the leader, who declined to be named, told RFA.

He added that the 14 men and three women aged between 20 and 30 had been tortured, with their faces disfigured.

A Sagaing resident, who did not want to be named for security reasons, confirmed to RFA that the temporary camp was raided and 17 bodies were found near the camp and on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River. 

He said three civilians were also shot dead at their homes when the junta raided nearby villages in the township.

The three men killed were 37-year-old Myint Kyaw Thu and 50-year-old Maung San from Kin Taw village, and 69-year-old Pauk Sa from Myin Se village. 

The local said that Pauk Sa’s wife is also missing and a 50-year-old man is suffering from gunshot wounds.

Nearly 100 houses were burned down when neighboring Let Pan Taw village was also raided on Sunday, according to locals.

Calls to the junta spokesperson for Sagaing region, Aye Hlaing, went unanswered. 

On Tuesday junta-controlled newspapers confirmed the raid on PDF camps near Kin Taw and U Yin villages, saying15 guns and ammunition were seized.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.