Soldiers are accused of killing 13 people from a village in central Myanmar, 11 of whom were discovered charred dead on Tuesday.
After local militias opposing military control carried out at least two bomb strikes on a military convoy near the city of Monywa, the incident occurred.
Soldiers then allegedly stormed into adjacent villages, gathering up and executing six men and five teenagers, according to witnesses. The military junta has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident.
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Locals claim that volunteers from the area’s people’s defense forces – armed groups created to resist military authority in towns and villages – put two homemade explosives on a military route in an attempted attack.
One of the bombs went off too soon, killing the two men who planted it. Two more individuals were reportedly apprehended and shot dead after the second device exploded.
Residents allege the military then swept through nearby villages, rounding up and capturing six men and five teenage boys, who were in hiding. Their hands were tied, and they were shot before their bodies set alight.
Armed volunteer people’s defence forces in towns and villages in Myanmar have carried out hundreds of bombings and assassinations targeting officials working with the military government after the violent suppression of pro-democracy rallies made peaceful protest almost impossible.
What is the background to the violence?
Mass protests had broken out across Myanmar after the military seized control of the South East Asian country in February and declared a year-long state of emergency following a general election.
The military claimed there had been widespread fraud during the election late last year, which had returned elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to power. The election commission has dismissed these claims.
Since then, the military has engaged in a brutal campaign of repression, killing at least 1,303 people in the demonstrations and arresting more than 10,600.
Earlier this week, Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison for inciting dissent and breaking Covid-19 rules, in the first of a series of verdicts that could see her jailed for life.
Monywa is also close to a controversial Chinese-owned copper mine, which has provoked protests from local villagers going back 10 years over grievances that the Chinese company operating it, Myanmar Wanbao, is in a joint venture with a conglomerate controlled by the Myanmar military.