A 200-strong military column marched into Kawlin township in Kawling district of Sagaing region and set ablaze to more than 200 houses in 5 villages. And the bodies of 5 people who were tortured and killed were also found.
Military Council troops who infiltrated the region on December 9th began burning down the villages of Zee Cho Kone and Shaw Phyu Kone on December 10th. Military Council troops invaded Kawlin township in Sagaing region and killed 5 civilians, locals said.
Subsequently, on December 11th, the villages of Pay Pin Chaung, Kokko Kone and Nyaung Kone were set on fire too. A Nyaung Kone villager said, “They entered the villages like an operation, and burned everything they found. All the houses were reduced to charred ruins. Not even soap was left, because the entire houses were burnt down.”
87 houses in Kokke Kone, 39 in Pay Pin Chaung, 29 in Nyaung Kone, 45 in Zee Phyu Kone and 24 in Shaw Phyu Kone – a total of 224 houses were destroyed due to the arson attack by the Military Council, according to the residents of theses villages.
More than 20,000 residents of 23 villages have fled their homes during this period of Junta troops conducting operations in Kawlin. Locals also said that displaced people are in urgent need of medicine, food and blankets.
After the coup until October 31st, more than 38000 homes and buildings were burned down throughout the country during the raging armed conflicts. Among them, Sagaing region has the
highest number of damage and loss, accounting for 70 percent of the total.
5 Pay Pin Chaung villagers who were unable to escape when the soldiers invaded,were found among the victims who died from their wounds, after being brutally tortured. A villager reported
that “ The soldiers killed everyone they saw. They were tortured and killed.”
Those who were killed were U Thein Aung, U Ae Maung, Ko Naing Win Tun, Ko Kan Min Soe and U Myint Soe, according to the villager.
The information officer of the People’s Defense Forces of Kawlin (Kawlin-PDF) said that according to the photos of the bodies, the victims had gunshot wounds to their heads.
According to the list surveyed by the Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar), a total of 26970 homes and buildings were destroyed by fire in Sagaing.
