The bodies of the Military Council soldiers buried in Kawtnwe village, Dooplaya District, a territory of the Karen National Union, had to be exhumed and cremated by local villagers, according to the residents of Kawtnwe village.
A resident of Kawtnwe said that in the middle of December last year in Kawtnwe village and nearby villages, there was a fierce battle between the revolutionary joint forces led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the coup Military Council troops.
The bodies of the Military Council soldiers who died during the battle have just been exhumed and cremated by the locals.
“ Five bodies were found in the middle of the village. 3 of them are from the Military Council. The other two are not in military uniform, so it is unknown. According to the badges on the body, there is a corporal and a sergeant of the Military Council,” he told KIC.
After the Border Guard Force (BGF) entered Kawtnwe village, the local villagers have returned to the village, however the residents said that currently it is not convenient for them to return to their homes and they do not dare to return.
“ At the moment, I’m still not comfortable being back. I will have to listen to the news. We will have to arrange to recite Paritta to make the village good. I don’t even know if I dare to go home or not. It is not appropriate to have a dead body in the village, so we cleaned up the corpses,” the villager continued.
A person close to the revolutionary forces said that the remaining bodies of the Military Council are those who died throughout the battle during the period of intense fighting in the past, and could not be brought back.
“ Those 5 bodies of the regime’s soldiers must have been buried in the village because they did not have time to carry them back. In the battle, many more of the regime’s soldiers died, not just these five,” said a person close to the revolutionary forces.
On December 16 of last year, the KNLA-led Revolutionary Joint Forces and the Military Council troops fought fiercely and the Military Council forces suffered many casualties, so the residents said that they left the bodies of their soldiers buried in the village.
As a result of the fighting, thousands of Kawtnwe residents have not dared to return to their homes, and are still fleeing and taking refuge in nearby villages.
