Civilian Killed, 15,000 Flee as Myanmar Junta Forces Raid Sagaing Villages

Some 15,000 civilians have fled their homes and one was killed as Myanmar regime troops and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members raided villages in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, according to residents.

More than 100 regime soldiers from Shwebo Township raided a group of villages on Sunday, continuously firing their weapons. More than 8,000 civilians from nine villages fled their homes, according to Khin-U Information, a local aid group.

Ko Nay Thura, a spokesman for Khin-U Information, said it was very lucky that a shell didn’t land on a crowd of people.

“If that happened, there could have been heavy casualties,” he told The Irrawaddy.

Residents of Inn Pat Village don’t dare to live there because it is 300 meters from the Inn Pat Kyawe military base camp and Ywar Thit Kone, a Pyu Saw Htee village. Inn Pat has been torched four times by regime troops and 200 of 600 houses there burned to ashes.

“There weren’t any clashes near the village but the regime troops shelled the school, knowing there are many villagers there,” Ko Nay Thura told The Irrawaddy.

Since the coup, two residents of Inn Pat have been killed and 15 injured by regime artillery, he added.

At the same time, another column of regime troops and Pyu Saw Htee militia members from Inn Pat Kyawe base camp in Khin-U Township shelled villages on the border of Ye-U and Khin-U townships, forcing over 5,000 civilians from six villages to flee their homes.

Food and properties of Chan Thar Kone villagers were looted by the column, which left the village for their base camp in the afternoon, according to the locals.

Some villagers in Khin-U have returned to their houses but residents of some villages close to the military base camp and the Pyu Saw Htee village don’t dare, according to the residents.

Khin-U Information said assistance is needed for the 5,000 civilians from the township who have fled their homes over the past year.