Myinthar Village Mass Killing – Issue 23

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Incident

At around 11 am on September 9th , around 30 members of the military council’s troops arrived in Myinthar village in Gangaw Township in Magway Region and started firing heavy weapons into the village. They torched more than 30 houses in the south of the village, arrested some villagers and killed 18 villagers including 12 children aged 12.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Human Rights under the National Unity Government (NUG) about the Myinthar village massacre, eight victims were beaten with gun butts and died from gunshot wounds to their heads. One of three older victims was found dead with his hand tied behind back and back injuries. One victim tied with rope on a chair, was shot dead. Myintha is a village with a population of just over 130,000, in GangawTownship.

Findings

According to local news, local defense forces formed for the security of Myintha village, prepared for resistance against the army as soon as they heard the news that the military council’s troops entered Tharlin village on the east bank of Myittha River, about one mile from Gangaw-Kalay road and torched a house there. Local defense forces took the position at the bridge which is the only entrance to Myinthar village.

Local defense forces could resist around 30 soldiers of the military council who took the position on the west bank of Myitthar River, for nearly one hour. Around 45 minutes later, around 30 members of military council troops stationed at Taungkhayan village police station, arrived at the village. Many members of local defense forces were injured. Local defense forces had to withdraw as the army fired heavy weapons repeatedly, a villager who was involved in the resistance told Myanmar Now.

After that, the military council’s troops fired shots at and destroyed the door made of bamboo and steel sheets on Myitthar Bridge and then entered the village. They forced women and the elderly who are taking shelter in the monastery to kneel under the scorching sun, destroyed around 40 mobile handsets and torched houses. Regarding the military council’s terror acts, a woman from Myinthar village said “I feel embittered. I shall never forgive them till the end of the world”.

I feel embittered.
I shall never forgive them till the end of the world

A leader of Yaw Township People’s Defence Force (YPDF) said: “As the military council’s troops fired heavy weapons into Myinthar village until the night of September 9th , our members were unable to enter the village. On the morning of September 10th , the military council’s troops withdrew from the village after torching the shops and big houses in the village. The YPDF members sorrowfully found the mass killings of villagers who sustained multiple injuries when they arrived at Myitthar bridge at the entrance to the village”.

A leader of the YPDF told the RFA news: “The people’s revolution spirits become stronger due to suppression. We need to use this embitterment as a force for the success of our revolution. We shall certainly win this revolution. Min Aung Hlaing shall certainly lose this revolution”.

According to the findings, the Myinthar village incident is one of the incidents that took place after September 7th about the military council’s terror acts and crackdowns on local resistance forces with the excessive use of manpower and weapons. The military council’s troops torched 36 houses in Hnankhar village in Gangaw Township, which is adjacent to Myinthar village on September 10th and nearly 20 houses in Htalhlaw village on September 12nd.

The military council and its troops badly treated all dissidents during the military coup across the country. They committed the arson in Kinma village in Magway Region, killings in Hlayswel village in Kyonepyaw Township in Ayeyawady Region and mass killings in Kani, Depayin, Minkin and Taze Townships in Sagaing Region. We can guess the military council’s attitude towards the public by just looking at the brutal crackdown on youth protestors in South Dagon Township in Yangon, with the use of heavy weapons like the RPG.

Review

Since the coup on February 1st , the military council has been facing different forms of the public’s resistance. It is found that the dissidents across the country are playing their parts in rooting out the military dictatorship in different forms of protests on the streets, in the houses and taking up arms.

The mass killing incident in Myinthar village of Magway Region is neither the first atrocity committed by the military council’s troops nor the last one

The military council is making brutal crackdowns on the dissidents like enemies and brutally killing the dissidents. In addition, the military council continues committing the crimes such as the arrests and sentencing of all the people regardless of gender and age by issuing orders and directives for their survival.

The mass killing incident in Myinthar village of Magway Region is neither the first atrocity committed by the military council’s troops nor the last one. So, the leaders from the different areas who are defying the military council led by Military Chief Min Aung Hlaing, including the NUG, need to give protection to the public who defy the military dictatorship by seeking ways to immediately stop the military council’s terrorist acts.

Part-II

What happened in the week?

Chin State

A major serving as the deputy battalion commander, was killed in a shooting in the Katha-based battalion-309 under the north-west command of the military council. Local people’s defence forces attacked Khaikam police station in Teedim Township. Five police members were killed and many others injured in the fighting. Locals said internet access was cut off in Teedim Township after the destruction of Mytel mobile towers.

The military council’s troops stole a watch, phone and wedding ring after cutting off the finger of Pastor Cung Biak Hum from the TCBC

A total of 30 soldiers of the military council were killed in the fighting in Htantalan Township, according to the Child World which quoted the statement by the Htantalan-CDF. On September 18th, a pastor who tried to put out fire was shot dead by the military council’s troops in Htantalan Township. The military council’s troops stole a watch, phone and wedding ring after cutting off the finger of Pastor Cung Biak Hum from the TCBC, according to the NMG.Almost all locals from Htantalan Township have fled to safer places due to downtown fighting, according to the KMG. The Committee Representing Chin State Hluttaw (CRSH) issued a statement, strongly condemning war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the terrorist military council’s troops in other townships like Htantalan and Hakha Townships.

Arakan State

The Spokesperson of the Arakan State Military Council said it would distribute COVID-19 vaccines for the members of the United League of Arakan and the Arakan Army (ULA/AA) in Arakan State where both sides have made ceasefire during the coup period. At present, there are competitions between the military council’s troops and the AA in administration and judiciary matters.

On September 17th, two leaders of Taungup Township National League for Democracy (NLD) were sentenced to two years and two months in prison and hard labor each by the township court. Similarly, the students of the Sittwe Students’ Union, Kyaukphyu Education College and Dagon University Arakan Students’ Union, who staged the protests against human rights violations of the military council’s troops, were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison each.

Shan State

On September 20th, fighting took place between the military council’s troops and a combined force of Kokang and Ta’ ang group between Lashio and Hseni in northern Shan State. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) (Kokang) attacked the military council which was expanding its territory in Pang Hseng (Kyukoke), Mongko and Lwaljone mountain. There was intense fighting between them. Locals were stranded by fighting, according to the KNG. Twenty-six Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) who arrived in Mongko Township are found to be infected with COVID-19, according to the KNG. Two locals from Hukwat in Kyaukme Township were admitted to Kyaukme Hospital after stepping on a landmine, according to the Shan Herald News Agency. The military council’s troops arrested youths by checking the guest lists after shootings in Yatsauk Township in southern Shan State, according to the Shan Herald News Agency. The battalion-513 of the military council arrested five youths at the entrance gate near Panglong University.

The military used the detainees as human shields in the fighting between the Aungban CDF and a combined force of the military council and the Pa-O National Organization (PNO) in Naungye village in Aungban Township

On September 15th, the military council troops arrested a daughter of the war veteran in Aungban Township with the use of excessive force, according to the Shan Herald News Agency. The Triangle Region Command asked for soldiers from the people’s militia groups.

According to the Shan Herald News Agency, the military used the detainees as human shields in the fighting between the Aungban CDF and a combined force of the military council and the Pa-O National Organization (PNO) in Naungye village in Aungban Township. Two soldiers of the military council were killed and three injured in the fighting in Kalaw Township. The IDPs had to move to safer places due to the fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) due to heavy shells near the IDP camp in Mong Kung Township. The number of IDPs in Mong Kung Township has reached nearly 2,300. The IDPs are in urgent need of aid, according to the Shan Herald News Agency.

Karenni (Kayah) State

Around 90 civilians were killed by the military council’s troops in southern Shan State and Karenni State, according to the NMG covering the news quoting the statement of the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN). The Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) said it was trying to stop all works of the military council in the Karenni State. A sergeant from the Karenni Army (KA) was killed in the fighting near 6th mile village in Demawsoe Township, according to the Kantarawaddy Times. Phalkhone People’s Defence Force under the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) is in need of arms and rations, according to the Mizzima News. The KCSN called on the international aid groups to provide cross-border aid including medicines to the Karenni IDPs infected with COVID-19.

Kachin State

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) ambushed a dyna carrying around 30 soldiers of the military council posing as the cargo truck heading to Tanai, near the bridge between Ta Wang Mare and Pa Nep Mare villages at around 12 on September 16th, according to the KNG. The military council troops fired five rounds of heavy weapons into Laiza after the sounds of gunfire were heard near 21st Mile Gate in Myitkyina at around 8 pm on September 15th.

On September 17th, the acting administrator of Naungnan Station in Myitkyina Township was shot dead. The victim’s son was injured in the shooting. A coup from Shahtoozwat village was injured after stepping on a mine planted by the military-backed people’s militia’s group near Yuzana company in Ban Kawk village on Lido Road in Hpakant Township at around 3 pm on September 20th.

South-East (Mon, Kayin and Tanintaryi)

The military council’s troops were stationed on the Kyaiktiyo Mountain in Kinmonchaung village in Kyaikto Township. On September 14th, the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda board of trustees cut off power in Sinchauk village near the mountain, according to the Thanlwin Times. The military council’s troops arrested five youths including an underage child in downtown Kyaikto citing the guest list. On September 15th, the Yay PDF announced that it blew up the commun – ication line of the military council in Yay Township. The military council is planning to assign duties to the police and soldiers at the government offices which may become the target of attack in Mon State, according to the Thanlwin Times.

The military council’s troops shot two civilians on motorbike as they refused to get inspected in front of the camp in Peinnaedaw village in Thaton Township. Due to the shooting, one person died and one injured. The person who sustained gunshot wounds could manage to escape. Two soldiers from the military council’s camp in Laykay village in Belin Township defected to the KNU’s Brigade -1. The military-backed Border Guard Force abducted four villagers to guard Mytel towers in Udaung and Nantharohn villages in Hlaingbwe Township in Karen State, according to the Thanlwin Times. The military council’s troops arrested some youths in the ward for the suspicion of involvement in a murder case after a pro-army supporter was shot dead in ward in Thandaunggyi Township.

There were more than 100 encounters between the military council troops and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)

Within two weeks of this month, there were more than 100 encounters between the military council troops and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), killing two soldiers of the KNU and 70 soldiers of the military council and injuring 91 others. At night on September 20th, the military council troops shot and arrested three youths including one university student in Dawei Township in Tanintharyi Region, according to a statement by the Democracy Affairs Protest Committee (Dawei District).

The military council’s troops arrested three local youths in Pala of Palaw Township for no apparent reason. The military council’s troops shot and arrested 12 people including a young woman in lower Yayphyu village-tract in Longlon Township, according to the Thanlwin Times. On the afternoon of September 11st, the Daungmin operation raided the Thaechaunggyi police outpost in Thayetchung Township in Dawei District, took the documents relating to military operations and directives of the military council and destroyed the police outpost’s signboard and some materials, according to the Mizzima News.

Upper Myanmar (Mandalay, Magway and Sagaing)

On September 16, the military council’s troops arrested four children of poet Paing Soe Wai living in the compound of Art School in the Mandalay Nayshae in Mandalay, accusing them of supporting the people’s defence force and CDM staff. On the evening of September 19th, the military council’s troops made a crackdown on the collective protest column in Mandalay and arrested some protestors. Some protestors were injured and arrested, according to the Mizzima News.

Kyaukse PDF (KPDF) carried out a mine attack on the EPC office on Yonegyi street in Sugone ward in Kyaukse Township as the officials threatened to cut off power if the people failed to pay electricity bills

Kyaukse PDF (KPDF) carried out a mine attack on the EPC office on Yonegyi street in Sugone ward in Kyaukse Township as the officials threatened to cut off power if the people failed to pay electricity bills. In addition, acting on the tip-off that the military council transports soldiers, arms and rations by train, the KPDF carried out mine attacks on the train heading from Mandalay to Yangon. A train coach adjacent to the locomotive was damaged.

Six soldiers of the military council were killed in the fighting in Kyaukpyoketike village in Gangaw Township in Magway Region while more than 10 soldiers of the military council were injured in the fighting in Saw Township. Thousands of locals from Myothit have fled to safer places due to the fighting, according to the statement by the Saw PDF on September 16th.

More than 10 soldiers of the military council’s troops were killed in the mine attack at the entrance of Yesagyo Township while two soldiers of the military council’s troops were injured in the attack on a military convoy in Kanma Township. Two members of military-backed PyuSawHtee were killed while they were planting a mine in Pinhtaung village in Pauk Township, according to locals. On the morning of September 14th, a five-year-old child was killed in a bomb blast between the Magway Region Education Officer’s Office and the Union Solidarity and Development Party’s office. The PDF allies based in Magway Region announced that they had nothing to do with the blast, according to the NMG. More than 10 military-appointed village administrators submitted the resignation letters after four informants of the military council were shot dead in Akyibin village in Htilin Township.

The MPDF blew up the military-owned Myanmar Beer Office in Monywa in Sagaing Region, according to the Mizzima News. A security police from Monywa Myanma Economic Bank joined the CDM by defecting to the local defense force with two guns, according to the MPDF. An unidentified organization fired shots at a family which was notorious for working as informants in Shawtaw about five miles from the north of Lakechan village in Tanze Township. All five family members were killed in the encounters, according to the DVB which quoted the locals.

An unnamed group shot No.28 police battalion (Monywa) near Ohtonebin village on Pathein-Monywa Road in Yinmarbin Township. Both sides exchanged gunfire. Kanbalu PDF announced that it destroyed three military vehicles in the mine attack on a military convoy on Shwebo-Myitkyina Road in Kanbalu Township. A combined force of the Minkin-PDF and the Taungdwin-PDF carried out an attack on the military council’s troops between Kyaw village and Letpandaw village near Asian Highway in Kalay District.

There were no reports of casualties from the military council, according to the Mizzima News. Locals fled to safer places as the military council’s troops entered the villages in the west of Pale in Sagaing Region and took motorbikes, according to the Mizzima News.

Lower Myanmar (Yangon, Bago and Ayeyawady)

On September 17th, fighting took place between the military council’s troops and local guerrilla force on Ngayokethihlaw bridge outside Kayan Township in Yangon Region, killing five soldiers of the military council and two members of the local guerrilla force, according to the Mizzima News. The military council’s troops arrested an ex-village administrator and his family members, the village NLD chair and some NLD party members in Phayagyi village in Thongwa Township, according to locals. At night on September 18th, a bomb exploded at the police outpost near Myawaddy Bank in Thanlyin Township. The military-appointed 100-household head was shot dead in Natsintayar in Thanlyin Township. Informant Win Maung was shot dead in Hlaing Township.

A youth was shot dead by the military council’s troops and at least seven people arrested on 22nd Street in Latha Township. There was a bomb scare near the Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd-owned company in Kyimyindaing Township. The military council’s troops arrested two youths. The military council’s troops arrested five locals in Hlegu Township for no apparent reason. The military council beated Father Steel Nu and a novice and arrested the novice in the Church near the Fire Services Office and Supply Bus Stop in Hmawbi, according to the Mizzima News.

On September 17th, a bomb exploded near Yangon International Airport in Kyankhinsu ward in Mingaladon Township. There were small explosions in some townships including Hlaing, Thaketa and Kayan Townships. The military council’s troops arrested five fish lake workers including two women in Zalun Township in Ayeyawady Region, accusing them of being PDF members, according to the NMG. The military council’s troops arrested three men including the ex-chief editor of the Mizzima News Agency in Kangyidaunt Township, for no apparent reason. On September 18th, the military council’s troops arrested the deputy head of the General Administration Department in Kangyidaunt Township.

International

The French Embassy in Myanmar issued a statement on September 15th, saying that France stands resolutely alongside the Burmese people in their desire for democracy and freedom which they expressed at the ballot box. On the International Day of Democracy, the EU, the UK and the US embassies also issued statements to stand with the Myanmar people who want freedom and democracy. Forbes Magazine has urged US President Joe Biden to support democracy and human rights in Myanmar.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai urged the Asean to send its special envoy to visit Myanmar as soon as possible to promote dialogue. In the annual list of the year’s 100 most influential people for 2021, the famous Time Magazine named Kachin activist Esther Ze Zaw Bamvo from the Kachin Peace Network who led the anti-coup protest, Shan-ni ethnic Daw Ei Thinzar Maung and Burmese-American Daw Mi Mi Aung who is a lead engineer on the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity.

Daw Ei Thinzar Maung is the incumbent Deputy Minister for Women, Youth and Children Affairs of the National Unity Government. According to the statement by the UNOCHA, around three million people are facing difficulties due to fighting, the security situation, monsoon rain and COVID-19. They are in need of help and preventive programs. On September 21st, the Credentials Committee members which will decide the representatives at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly were appointed.

The Credentials Committee, appointed at the beginning of the regular session of the General Assembly, consists of nine members—the Bahamas, Bhutan, Chile, China, Namibia, Russia, Sierra Leone, Sweden and the US.

The Credentials Committee, appointed at the beginning of the regular session of the General Assembly, consists of nine members—the Bahamas, Bhutan, Chile, China, Namibia, Russia, Sierra Leone, Sweden and the US. The Credentials Committee will decide the post for Myanmar Ambassador to the UN U Kyaw Moe Tun who defies the military coup. Myanmar, Guinea and Afghanistan are included in the list of the countries which will deliver speeches at the 76th UN General Assembly on September 27th.