Myanmar military government blamed for 17 civilian deaths

Residents and members of a pro-democracy militia said they found 14 bodies, including three women, last week in the central village of Nyaung Yin in Myanmar, also known as Burma. They found three other men in Tar Taing village, with one of them dismembered. A resistance group leader in the central Sagaing region said the troops also raped women.

Is there any confirmation the military was responsible? Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government in a Monday news conference said the soldiers were from the 99th Light Infantry Division based in the Mandalay region. Local leaders of the pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces said more than 90 soldiers on five helicopters arrived in the region on Feb. 23. Since the 2021 coup, the army has launched major offensives in the countryside, where residents report killings and burnt villages. Local communities have formed armed resistant groups to fight back.

Dig deeper: Read Joyce Wu’s report in World Tour about ongoing persecution two years after the coup.