Four people accused of being military informants were killed in recent days in two villages in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township.
Nga Min and Myint Hlaing, both from Kapai village, were killed on Tuesday night near the 26th mile marker on the Monywa-Kalewa road, according to locals.
“They went down by the creek to give information to the army in Monywa, and were killed on the way,” a villager from the neighbouring community of Theegone said.
“They were supposedly cremated at the scene [of the murder]. When people from the village went there, they only saw ashes.”
At the time of reporting it was not clear how the two men were murdered.
Another man from Kapai—Yan Naing—was reportedly shot dead at his home on the night of June 28. He was accused of being a member of the Pyu Saw Htee, a pro-military group said to have been formed following the February 1 coup to counter the public resistance movement.
“Yan Naing, a member of Pyu Saw Htee, was a broker who smuggled timber. He worked with the military,” a Theekone villager said.
Yinmabin residents have said that since the coup, illegal logging operations have grown within the Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, which borders Yinmabin, Kani, Mingan, Pale and Gangaw townships.
The fourth man, Kyauk Lone, was attacked with swords at his home by a mob on the night of June 26 in Theekone, and died of his injuries. He was also accused by his fellow villagers of working with the military.
Myanmar Now was unable to verify the allegations against the deceased.
Locals claimed that when junta troops entered the villages of Kapai and Theekone, the murdered men would provide food to the soldiers.
The military council’s army was stationed in Kapai twice in April, at which time they arrested residents and destroyed some houses.
Kapai’s residents subsequently fled their homes during the raids, in which troops slaughtered chickens and pigs owned by the villagers and stole motorcycles, bicycles, gold and jewelry.
Only a handful of people with close ties to the military remained in the village during these periods, the locals said.
Since early April, the military council’s armed forces have been carrying out crackdowns on villages in Yinmabin, Kani and Mingan townships, where there have been strong anti-junta protests. Clashes with local resistance forces have ensued, with civilians fighting back against the military using traditional handmade hunting rifles.
More than 10,000 locals in Yinmabin and Kani fled the fighting between the coup council’s forces and the local defence groups in April and May.
Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
