The remains and ashes of PDF fighters and civilians killed and burned by junta troops are seen on June 7. / Supplied
Four resistance fighters and two civilians were killed in detention after Myanmar junta forces raided a Monywa District People’s Defense Force (PDF) camp in Sagaing Region’s Monywa Township on Wednesday, the resistance group said.
About a dozen of fighters from Monywa District PDF Battalion 27, known as the Black Dragon Special Task Force, were about to start their early morning physical training when a junta military column comprising about 100 troops raided the battalion’s camp in Yay Kan Su Village at around 5 a.m., said Ko Soe Gyi, a spokesperson for the battalion.
“Only a dozen troops were left in the village [at the time of the raid] as the rest of us had been deployed to other frontline positions. Our comrades attempted to defend the camp and briefly fought back, but as they were badly outnumbered by the junta troops, our comrades had to leave the village,” he said.
During the short clash, junta troops fired mortar shells at the camp, injuring two resistance fighters who were later detained by junta troops. The detained fighters were identified as Ko Athay Lay, 17, and Ko B. E., 24.
After they seized the PDF camp, junta troops searched the village and arrested four more people including two other members of Battalion 27, Ma Zin Zin Soe, 18, and Ma Khin Yadanar Soe, 20.
The other two detainees, reportedly aged 20 and 50, were identified only as residents of Yay Kan Su Village, according to Ko Soe Gyi and other residents of that village.
“Two female fighters were hiding, but they were found by the junta troops. Before killing them, they interrogated and tortured the arrestees,” said the PDF spokesperson.
Residents and the resistance group said the six were killed together and their bodies burned at around 1 p.m. yesterday. The junta’s military column left the village at 3 p.m. when the other PDF troops approached the village to drive them out.
“The PDF fighters returned with additional forces and arms at around 3 p.m., but the junta’s military column retreated from the village,” said a resident who has been hiding in a nearby forest with his family and thousands of other villagers since the raid.
Junta propaganda channels on Telegram said the military seized the dead bodies of three male PDF fighters and two female PDF fighters along with their arms and ammunition while they were taking shelter at a school in Yay Kan Su Village.
Resistance group spokesperson Ko Soe Gyi explained that the camp is located beside, not inside, the school, but their fighters use school’s football pitch for physical training.
Thousands of local residents have fled since the junta military column began its raids on Yay Kan Su and five other villages in the area.