A 350-strong Military Council unit deployed four columns in the north and west of Tigyaing township burning houses in 14 villages, an LDF fighter told KNG. Military Council troops are still burning down whole villages in Tigyaing (Htigyaing) township of Kachin state although there are no battles, a member of the Local Defense Forces (LDFs) said.
The LDF fighter told KNG news on December 7 th , “We estimate they have more than 300 troops. They are divided into four groups in order to enter four different villages at the same time. They relentlessly set fire to villages even though there is no fighting and no resistance.
A total of more than 500 houses have been destroyed. Around 15000 civilians from 25 local villages have been displaced by the Military Council's arson attacks, he added.
Similar orchestrated arson attacks as a weapon of collective punishment have been documentated across the country.
“Myanmar’s military junta has burned nearly 30,000 homes across the country during the past 19 months following the coup that overthrew the elected government,” according to data compiled by a domestic research group report issued ‘Data for Myanmar’ issued on Aug. 28 2022.
In Tigyaing (Htigyaing) township of Kachin state the villages of Aung Thar Kone anZee Thaung were set ablaze on December 9 th . The LDF cadre reported that “ are about 14 villages that have been burnt down already. Yesterday they again set fire to he remaining houses in the villages of Lay Thar and Inn Tain”.
The villages that were burnt down are : Su Pote Chaung, Ingyin, Inn Tain, Ale Taw, Lay Thar, Kyat Thayay Chaung, Nga Khut Chaung, Pe Khin, Shwe Chaung, Bo Te Kone, Sar Twin, Aung Thar Kone, Zee Thaung (west) and Zee Thaung (east), and a total of more than 500 houses were destroyed.
The Military Council unit that is setting fire to villages in Tigyaing township is from the 461st Infantry Battalion under the 88th Division. Between November 25th and December 5 th after these troops invaded Tigyaing, fierce battles broke out between them and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), People’s Defense Forces (PDF) joint forces, which resulted in the death of many Military Council troops.
In a report issued on Aug. 28, Data for Myanmar said soldiers had torched 28,434 houses since the ouster of the democratically elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, with 20,153 homes destroyed in Sagaing region alone.
The Magway region has the second-largest number of destroyed houses at 5,418, followed by Chin state with 1,474 burned homes.Sagaing, Magway and Chin are hotbeds of civilian resistance to military rule by armed opposition People’s Defense Forces (PDF).
At least 1510 houses and buildings were burned down in Myanmar between October 1st and 31st. 1124 houses among them were in Sagaing division, according to the Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar (ISP).
