Soldiers in Myanmar has rampaged through several villages, raping, beheading and killing at least 17 people, residents says.
This is the latest accusations towards the ruling military, accusing the army of a series of war crimes since they seized power two years ago.
The bodies of 17 people were recovered last week in the villages of Nyaung Yin and Tar Taing in central Myanmar.
According to members of the anti-government resistance and a resident who lost his wife, the victims had been detained by the military and some appeared to have been tortured before being killed.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military’s seized the power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
The violence triggered widespread armed resistance, which has since turned into what experts have characterized as a civil war.
Raped, killed and beheaded
The army has been conducting major offensives in the countryside, including burning villages and driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
The soldiers involved in last week’s attacks were in a group of more than 90 soldiers who were brought to the area by five helicopters. This is according to the pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces and independent Myanmar media.
They said that the bodies of 14 people, including three women, were found Thursday on a small island in a river in Nyaung Yin. Another three male victims were found in Tar Taing, including two members of the local resistance. One of them was, according to witnesses, dismembered and had his head cut off.
Moe Kyaw, a Tar Taing resident who survived the attack says, that his 39-year-old wife, Pan Thwal, and 18-year-old nephew, were among those killed.
The military government has not responded to the allegations.
In the past, the military has denied documented abuse and stated that casualties will occur in the course of fighting against armed anti-government guerrillas.
Online media supporting the military government have made the same assertion about the recent incidents in Sagaing. Some have suggested that the allegations are the result of factional fighting within the resistance.
Source: wgnradio.com
