More than 1,000 houses from 10 villages in the eastern Tabayin Township, Sagaing Division, have been burned down within a week, according to the people who are helping the refugees.

A resident said that the Military Council forces, consisting of more than 150 soldiers, moved from Ye-U town to Tabayin town on January 22, and set fire to the villages from January 24- 29.

“These villages are big villages, full of three-story buildings and one-story houses. Now they have all been demolished and burned. I can’t find words to describe my feelings of deep depression and sorrow, to be rendered homeless overnight,” said a local resident.

An official from the refugee support group said that there is an urgent need for food because the houses that were burnt down included local people’s barns.

“Currently, they are living in small tarpaulin tents. Some have to live in a monastery. Some are living under ox carts. And food is desperately short. They had nothing to eat because the rice they had collected at home was also destroyed . They have to rely on our support. They will need help before they can stand on their own, so I urge you to help them if you can,” he said.

The column is a joint unit of Mawlaik-based Light Infantry Battalion 364 and Light Infantry Battalion 701, which burned 37 villages in Tabayin Township and more than 3,500 houses in Saingpyin last December, and is currently invading Shwebo Township and burning villages, according to local residents.

Residents said that after the coup, more than 35,000 houses were destroyed by the arson of the Military Council and subordinate groups in the entire Sagaing Division, and more than 4,500 houses were lost in Tabayin Township alone.

According to records of refugee support groups, the number of house burnings in Tabayin, Sagaing Division is the highest in Myanmar.

367 houses from Nyaunghla village, 39 houses from Letyetkone village, 220 houses from Ohntapin village, 122 houses from Daingnat village, 70 houses from Mayakan village, 96 houses from Thayettaw village, 6 houses from Mukatwin village, 139 houses from Yinky‌ay Village, 2 houses from Masoeyein (East) village and 15 houses fromMuyoekone village were reportedly burnt to ashes.

If you want to donate something to help these displaced people, you can contact and donate through the Facebook pages of Tabayin Brothers Force and Tabayin Township Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Support Organization.