CDF-Mindat today issued a statement that they had found evidence that civilians were massacred and burned by the Military Council in Palontwe Village of Mindat Township in Chin State.

A 120-strong military column raided the Palontwe Village on November 7, shot and killed 1 villager, took hostage about 40 villagers and internally displaced people (IDPs).

CDF-Mindat said that the next day on November 8, seven men among the hostages from Yaw were taken to an unknown location with their hands tied behind their backs. After the Military Council retreated ,only one was found alive in Htilin, while the other 6 were 0still missing.

There had been two close combats with the CDF-Mindat on that day, resulting in the death of two Military Council members. CDF-Mindat said it was difficult to carry out the operation because the Military Council used the civilian hostages as shields.

After the Military Council troops left Palontwe Village on November 10, CDF- Mindat cleared the area and found evidence of people killed and burned, a spokesperson of CDF-Mindat Salai Hwa Om said.

“We investigated and found that only 1 out of the 7 captured by the Military Council made it to Htilin. The remaining 6 were believed to have been brutally tortured and killed. One Chin man died that day and two others escaped and are still missing. The six people taken away by the Military Council troops from Yaw area have still not been found.”

CDF spokesman Salai Hwa Om added that “the people believe that that the six missing hostages ended up as the charred remains of bodies burnt by the Military Council. The remaining bones of the victims to turned into powder. They did inhumane things.”

It is hard to know the exact number of the dead because the remaining charred bones have been crushed and become almost impossible for the families to arrange funerals, CDF-Mindat announced.

Palontwe Village with around 20 houses located on the border of Chin State and Magway. A total of around 50 locals and IDPs lived there.

CDF-Mindat expressed its condolences to the bereaved families of the civilians who were inhumanely killed by the Military Council in Palontwe Village. Currently, the Military Council troops based in Htilin are preparing their

equipment for military operations hence CDF-Mindat urges people to avoid traveling between Htilin and Mindat.