Junta forces kill civilians and torch homes as they move through Kani Township, PDF says

Myanmar army troops carrying out regular assaults on villages on the western banks of the Chindwin River in Sagaing Region’s Kani Township also recently killed two civilians, according to local sources. 

The military column of around 50 soldiers had been occupying a post near the Mya Thein Tan Phaya hill in Butalin Township, which borders Kani. On Sunday, they reportedly crossed the Chindwin River, raiding the village of Aing Taung and setting fire to 12 homes, as well as burning cowsheds and huts used to store both oil and generators, a spokesperson for the Kani People’s Defence Force (PDF) said. 

After the soldiers left, the PDF members found a burned body in the village. 

“We found the dead body of a civilian inside the burned remains of a house. We are still unable to identify the victim,” the Kani PDF spokesperson told Myanmar Now. 

The same column went on to raid Chaing village, two miles from Aing Taung, the following day. There, they torched a house and shot one man dead: 28-year-old Khaing Zaw Win, who tried to flee the attack, according to a village resident who spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity. 

“The victim wasn’t a member of the resistance forces. He was so scared that he tried to escape on his motorcycle,” the Chaing villager said.

After leaving Chaing the military column clashed with the Kani PDF near the villages of Mu Htaw and Ngar Phyat on Tuesday afternoon. There were reportedly no clashes immediately prior to the raids on Chaing and Aing Taung. 

The resistance group claimed to have killed around 10 Myanmar army soldiers through the use of improvised explosive devices in the battle. 

“So many soldiers were injured. A member of our group was shot and injured as well,” the Kani PDF spokesperson said on Tuesday afternoon.

Thousands of locals from some 20 villages along the western shore of the Chindwin, including Aing Taung, Chaing, Ma Eu, Din Pauk, Thayet Pin, Mu Htaw and Ngar Phyat, had fled their homes at the time of reporting.

“It’s flu season right now, so that is a bit worrying. But we don’t know what specific things they are currently in need of as they’re still on the run,” the Kani PDF spokesperson said. 

The military’s systematic torching of homes in Sagaing and Magway region villages, as well as in Kayah and Chin states, has been well documented. 

According to Data for Myanmar, which has been compiling the information on the junta’s crimes, more than 4,500 houses have been destroyed by the military and its allied forces since the coup in February last year. 

The military council has frequently accused members of the anti-coup resistance movement of committing the crimes to which their own armed forces have been linked.