Junta forces set fire to three villages in Mandalay Region’s Singu Township on Tuesday, a day after the killing of a local member of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia.
Residents said around 20 soldiers and police marched into Kyettuyway, a village in the Hintharma village tract, at about 10am on Tuesday and immediately started burning down houses there.
They then proceeded to do the same in two other villages in the same village tract, a woman who lives in Kyettuyway told Myanmar Now.
“They torched houses in Kyettuyway, Tamarkone and Meinmahlagyun—small villages near the victim’s home. Many houses have already been destroyed,” she said.
Htun Thin, a resident of Kyettuyway who was known to belong to the Pyu Saw Htee, was killed the night before by the Singu-based Bo Kyar Gyi guerrilla group.
A spokesperson for the group said at around noon on Tuesday that he still had no definite information about casualties, arrests, or the extent of property damage, as the attacks were still ongoing.
“They are still burning down houses. I don’t know how many have been destroyed so far, or what their next target is,” he said.
He added that the first house to be destroyed belonged to a local teacher who was taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.
“The house of a female CDM teacher was first one they burned down. They set fire to houses along the riverbank next,” he said.
Most of the inhabitants of the affected villages have fled, residents of the area said.
Several townships in Mandalay Region, including Singu, Madaya, and Thabeikkyin, continue to see strong resistance to the regime that seized power more than a year ago.
