KNU는 자신의 영토에서 150,000 명 이상의 실향민이 그룹이 발표한 수치는 미얀마의 쿠데타 이후 인도주의적 위기가 빠르게 확대되고 있음을 시사합니다.
린 틴 2022년 8월 16일 에 게시됨
6월 29일 바고 지역 짜욱지에서 포격을 피해 달아나는 실향민들(KNU) 6월 29일 바고 지역 짜욱지에서 포격을 피해 달아나는 실향민들(KNU)
Karen National Union(KNU)이 일요일에 발표한 성명에 따르면 Mon 주와 Bago 지역에서 최근 군사 작전으로 150,000명 이상의 이재민이 발생했습니다.
KNU 1여단과 3여단이 각각 통제하고 있는 Mon 주의 Thaton 지역과 Bago 지역의 Nyaunglebin 타운십에서 정권군의 폭격으로 이 지역의 총 154,866명의 민간인이 집을 탈출해야 했습니다.
맞다면, 이 수치는 작년 쿠데타에 대한 강한 저항을 보인 미얀마 동부와 다른 지역에서 인도주의적 위기가 극적으로 확대되었음을 나타냅니다.
유엔 인도주의업무조정국(OCHA)이 7월 31일 발표 한 수치에 따르면 , 군부 인수와 그 여파로 전국적으로 866,000명 이상의 국내실향민이 발생했다.
OCHA의 추정에 따르면 쿠데타 이전의 분쟁으로 인해 실향민의 수를 합치면 현재 이 나라의 실향민 수는 120만 명이 넘습니다.
성명서에서 KNU는 Karen (Kayin) 주, 특히 Mutraw (Hpapun) 지구와 Myawaddy Township의 영토에도 많은 수의 IDP가 있다고 말했습니다.
다만 정확한 수치는 나오지 않았다고 덧붙였다.
Karen Human Rights Group(KHRG)에 따르면, 군은 단체와 개인이 도움이 필요한 사람들에게 물품을 운반하는 것을 방지함으로써 실향민을 지원하려는 노력을 방해하고 있습니다.
“민간인들이 인도적 지원을 받는 것을 막는 것은 엄청난 인권침해입니다. 많은 국내이재민의 기본권이 침해당하고 있으며 그들은 전혀 안전하지 않습니다.”라고 KHRG 대변인인 Saw Nandar Htoo가 말했습니다.
현지 인도적 지원 단체들은 식량과 거처와 같은 기본적인 생필품이 부족하다고 말합니다.
군부의 무차별적인 포격으로 얼마나 많은 민간인 사상자가 발생했는지는 확실하지 않지만 지난 수요일 Nyaunglebin Township의 Htoe Wah Sike 마을에서 1명이 사망한 것으로 확인되었습니다.
피해자인 San Oo라는 52세 여성은 포탄이 집에 떨어진 후 여러 부상을 입었다고 소식통은 말했습니다. 그녀는 같은 날 나중에 병원에서 사망했습니다.
정권은 또한 그 지역에서 KNU와 그 동맹국들에 대해 수많은 공습을 수행하여 민간인 사망과 대량 이주를 초래했다고 현지 소식통이 보고했습니다.
카렌 주 국내 실향민 국내이재민 카렌 내셔널 유니온
린 틴 관련 기사 5월 7일 KNLA와 ANC 연합군이 압수한 무기들이 전시되어 있다. (사진설명: ANC) Rakhine 민족주의 그룹은 KNU에 합류하여 군대에 맞서 싸웠습니다. 2021년 5월 8일 게시 Oo Ka Yit Hta 주민들은 6월 28일에 지역 사회에 junta 포탄이 공격을 가한 후 집을 떠나고 있습니다(제공됨) KNU가 태국 국경 근처의 군부 전초 기지에 대한 공격을 계속하면서 격렬한 전투가보고됨 2022년 6월 28일 게시 기부 독립 언론이 미얀마에서 공격을 받고 있습니다... 우리가 권력자들에게 책임을 물을 수 있도록 도와주세요.
지금 기부하세요 단식투쟁 정치범, 징역 3년 선고 만달레이의 오보 교도소에서 시위에 참여했던 나웅 헤트 아웅과 다른 수감자들도 심하게 구타를 당했다고 소식통들이 전했다.
메리 힌 2022년 8월 16일 에 게시됨
만달레이의 오보 교도소 내부(지금 미얀마) 만달레이의 오보 교도소 내부(지금 미얀마)
활동가 소식통에 따르면 쿠데타 반대 시위에 가담한 혐의로 작년에 투옥된 학생 지도자가 단식투쟁을 벌인 혐의로 3년의 징역형을 추가로 선고받았다.
지난 11월 만달레이에서 체포 된 후 선동 혐의로 유죄 판결을 받은 나웅 헤텟 아웅(26)은 수요일 재판 없이 선고를 받았다고 전버마학생연합연맹(ABFSU) 대변인이 말했다.
ABFSU 대변인은 새로운 형이 내려지기 하루 전 나웅 헤텟 아웅이 잔인하게 구타를 당해 독방에 수감됐다고 말했다.
“They beat him up and fired slingshots at him. We were told they also used tasers. According to our latest intel, he and 15 other political prisoners are still in solitary,” he said.
According to the spokesperson, Naung Htet Aung and the other hunger strikers sustained serious injuries in the crackdown.
“Three of his front teeth were knocked out and he also has wounds on his back. Some were even crippled by their injuries,” he said.
2월 만달레이에서 군부대에 의해 체포된 시위대(지금 미얀마) Student union members, education staff arrested in Mandalay raid The former student union leaders and strike committee staff were taken into junta custody in a raid by 100 soldiers on a safe house in Chanayethazan Township
Political prisoners at Mandalay’s Obo Prison began their hunger strike on August 1 to protest the execution of prominent regime opponents Phyo Zayar Thaw and Ko Jimmy, also known as Kyaw Min Yu, and two other prisoners in late July.
Naung Htet Aung is the former chair of the Yangon Education University Student Union. He was one of eight people arrested during a raid on a safehouse in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township last November.
The ABFSU also expressed grave concern about other student leaders who were taken into regime custody last year.
The group said that Aye Nandar Soe, the chair of the Sagaing Education University Students Union, disappeared last September after being arrested at a military checkpoint on a bridge linking Sagaing and Mandalay regions.
She was reportedly taken to an army compound where troops from Light Infantry Division 33 were stationed and has not been heard from since, according to the ABFSU.
Lin Paing Soe, a student union member who attended Kyaukse Technological University in Mandalay’s Kyaukse Township, also went missing at around the same time and is feared dead.
More than 40 student union members are still being detained in prisons all over the country, the ABFSU said.
Political Prisoners Obo Prison Mandalay Region Naung Htet Aung Student Activists
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DONATE NOW ‘The smell of rotten flesh was everywhere’ – Several civilians killed in junta assault on Sagaing village Eighteen people are found dead after a prolonged Myanmar army assault on a Yinmabin Township village involving airstrikes, a ground offensive and days of occupation
Khin Yi Yi Zaw Published on Aug 16, 2022
Yin Paung Taing(미얀마 현재)에 대한 군대의 3일 기습 공습 이후 불타버린 집 A burned house smoulders following the military’s three-day raid on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
Content warning: This report contains a graphic image of human remains
The remains of 18 people, including the body of a 10-year-old girl, were found in a village in Myanmar’s heartland this week following three days of occupation by the military, according to locals and members of resistance groups active in the area.
In one of the most violent and prolonged assaults by the junta’s forces in recent days, regime troops besieged the village of Yin Paung Taing in southern Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township on Thursday afternoon. The attack started with the launch of airstrikes from three Mi-35 fighter jets and continued as some 60 soldiers were dropped from three helicopters to carry out a ground offensive, stationing themselves in a village monastery until Sunday morning, residents told Myanmar Now.
Locals and resistance fighters who returned to Yin Paung Taing after the troops had left initially found the bodies of 12 slain civilians, all of whom they were able to identify. As the search for casualties continued on Monday, six more people were found dead, and at the time of reporting, their identities were not confirmed.
Nine of the first 12 bodies had wounds that appeared to have been caused by light and heavy weaponry, according to a 40-year-old man who was involved in the search for his neighbours.
Yin Paung Taing(미얀마 현재)에 대한 군대의 3일 기습 공습 이후 불타버린 집 A burned house smoulders following the military’s three-day raid on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
Among the victims were two children: 10-year-old Khine Khine Win and 17-year-old Thaw Bhone Naing. There were also five men between the ages of 24 and 73, and two women, aged 45 and 52. Six of the 18 people who were killed—including Khine Khine Win—had suffered burns.
Two other elderly women, both aged 85, are believed to have died of starvation as they hid in the village during the raid.
A 67-year-old man also died from respiratory issues while fleeing the junta attack, the local man who spoke to Myanmar Now said.
By the time that many of the bodies were found, they had decomposed to the point where they could not be moved and had to be cremated on-site.
“They must have been dead since August 11, so it was impossible to pick up their bodies,” the man recalled. “Even cows, dogs and horses were shot by artillery. The whole village was torn down.”
“The village felt like a cemetery and the smell of rotten flesh was everywhere,” he said.
Yin Paung Taing에 대한 군사 공격으로 사망한 마을 사람의 시신(지금 미얀마) The body of a villager killed in the military attack on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
Ambush from above
Yin Paung Taing, which has a population of nearly 3,000, is located 10 miles south of the town of Yinmabin. The three fighter jets which launched the airstrikes on the village came from Monywa, a city around 35 miles east of Yin Paung Taing across the Chindwin River, and where the junta’s Northwestern Military Command is located.
On the day of the assault, a market fair had been taking place in the village, drawing crowds and making it difficult for those present to immediately flee the air attacks, according to one man who managed to flee to safety.
“One helicopter dropped off soldiers at the entrance of the village and the other two hovered around the village and relentlessly fired from the left and the right. Some people escaped. Some didn’t,” he said.
Yin_paung_taing.Png Sagaing 지역 남부 Yin Paung Taing의 위치를 보여주는 지도 A map showing the location of Yin Paung Taing in southern Sagaing Region
The man recalled that the military aircraft appeared soon after around 80 resistance fighters travelling from neighbouring Chin State had stopped at the village to rest on the afternoon of August 11. He speculated that the Myanmar army had received intel regarding the guerrilla force’s movements and that its members had likely been the target of the attack.
“The jets hovered around the place where members of that group were having lunch and they opened fire on that area, so I think someone must have informed the military that they would be here,” he explained.
He told Myanmar Now that he narrowly escaped the air assault on Thursday afternoon with his wife, teenage daughter and young son. He described how he carried the boy—a toddler—in one arm and held his wife’s hand with the other as they ran upon hearing the sound of incoming jets.
“I held up my son tightly and covered him with my body so that he would not get shot,” he said, adding that the family had no time to gather any belongings.
He left his son and wife under a tree outside the village and returned to locate his daughter and bring her to safety.
Yin_baung_taing_12_1.Jpg Yin Paung Taing 마을 습격에서 죽은 동물(미얀마 나우) An animal killed in the Yin Paung Taing village raid (Myanmar Now)
Those who remained trapped in Yin Paung Taing during the raid were among the community’s most vulnerable residents, including the sick and elderly, many of whom were injured in the siege and held hostage by the military.
Bala, a member of the Yinmabin-based Young Ranger Force, said that fighters from at least 10 local resistance groups—including his—tried to rescue as many civilians as possible, but were overwhelmed by the number of wounded.
“Some of the people were hit by the fragments of walls and windows that had been blasted apart by the shells dropped from the jets,” he explained. “Some had their legs broken and some were even hit right in the head with the shells. We were able to rescue some of them but we had to leave some behind out of desperation.”
He said that the members of the resistance coalition managed to guide the Chin fighters to safety before the junta troops airlifted into Yin Paung Taing had set up posts and began firing artillery into the surrounding area.
Yin_paung_taing.Jpeg Yin Paung Taing에 대한 군사 공격으로 파괴된 차량(현재 미얀마) Vehicles destroyed in the military attack on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
On the following day, August 12, the local defence forces attacked the occupying military column, which responded with airstrikes. Resistance fighters turned their fire to the junta aircrafts hovering over the area.
When the Myanmar army soldiers left Yin Paung Taing at around 6am on Sunday, they released the women and elderly residents who they had held captive, but took 24 men with them as hostages.
As the troops—accompanied by some 70 pro-junta militia members—headed west, a fighter jet fired at villages in their path to “clear” the area in preparation for the military column’s departure, according to members of local defence forces. Hundreds of residents reportedly fled from the communities of Pu Htoe Thar and Mon Thwin, both located along the road travelled by the junta forces.
By Tuesday, the column had arrived in the village of Chin Pyit, less than 10 miles from Yin Paung Taing and located in neighbouring Pale Township. There they torched multiple homes, according to locals.
At the time of reporting, it was not known if the hostages from Yin Paung Taing were still alive.
Chin_pyit.Png Yin Paung Taing 및 Chin Pyit을 포함하는 지역인 Yinmabin과 Pale 사이의 타운십 경계를 보여주는 지도 A map showing township border between Yinmabin and Pale, an area that includes Yin Paung Taing and Chin Pyit
Displaced residents largely returned to Yin Paung Taing on Monday, noting that the destruction of the village was extensive, and included severe damage to the Buddhist community hall.
At least 15 motorcycles and one truck, as well as two vehicle repair garages, were also destroyed.
Yin Paung Taing was first raided in September of last year in an attack that left one civilian dead and seven beaten and tortured, according to the 40-year-old resident who recounted the most recent assault to Myanmar Now.
The military has carried out frequent aerial attacks on multiple Sagaing Region resistance strongholds, including the townships of Ayadaw, Depayin, Myinmu and Ye-U.
Bala, from the Young Ranger Force, explained that although resistance groups have often been able to fend off ground offensives by the Myanmar army, they continue to struggle when confronted with air power.
“We are not afraid to face them on the ground but we still have to flee when they launch airstrikes,” he said. “The jets flew so low while shooting at us. At least if we had anti-aircraft weapons we could fire back.”
현지인들은 6월 28일 군사 방화 공격 이후 인마빈 타운십에 있는 렐 응우크 마을을 탈출하고 있다(인마르빈 정보 센터) Myanmar military launches airstrike on Yinmabin Township village, trapping civilians Dozens of villagers, including many injured by helicopter gunfire, are unable to escape their Sagaing Region community as soldiers airlifted to the area occupy the site
Yin Paung Taing Yinmabin Township Sagaing Region Chin Pyit Junta raid Air Assault Junta airstrikes air raids
Khin Yi Yi Zaw Related Articles Charred remains were found in four of the at least 30 homes in Mon Taing Pin that were burned down by regime forces during a two-day occupation of the village that began on May 10 (Supplied) More burned bodies discovered in Sagaing’s Ye-U Township Published on May 16, 2022 The burned remains of homes in Tamoke village seen on the morning of March 16 (Supplied) Military retaliates against civilians as resistance forces strike junta supply lines in upper Myanmar Published on Mar 17, 2022 CONTINUE READING Donate Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.
DONATE NOW Coalition of Chin resistance forces launch lethal attack on junta base near state capital Local anti-junta defence forces ambush a military post outside of Hakha in an area where locals say the junta has been attempting to set up its own administrative mechanism
Salai Maung Tin Published on Aug 15, 2022
Chin resistance fighters are seen in Chin State in an undated photo (Supplied) Chin resistance fighters are seen in Chin State in an undated photo (Supplied)
An alliance of ethnic Chin guerrilla groups ambushed a Myanmar army base between Hakha and Thantlang townships last week, claiming to have killed 10 junta soldiers.
Members of the Chinland Joint Defence Committee (CJDC) launched the attack on the site near the Themis stream on August 11, the coalition’s general secretary, Salai Timmy, said.
Myanmar Now is unable to independently confirm further details about the assault.
Salai Timmy added that an 80-soldier junta column from the base in question had been attacking villages around Hakha, the Chin State capital, including Mee Chaung and Sa Mee Chaung, as well as in Matupi Township.
Villagers from Saung Wa, a community located next to Sa Mee Chaung, had also been subjected to interrogations by the troops, a local source said.
He told Myanmar Now that he believed the junta was trying to establish a permanent presence in the area.
“I think they’re trying to seize control of the area in order to help the military council operate their government mechanism in the area,” he said, adding, “They’re sending more reinforcements so that the Chin defence forces can’t operate in the area.”
Some 220 battles have taken place between the CJDC’s forces and those of the junta since February, the coalition said in an August 11 statement.
Of those clashes, more than half were in Hakha, Falam and Mindat townships.
The military council has not released information regarding the fighting in Chin State, where it has also been widely accused of torching homes.
In Thantlang alone, the township’s Placement Affairs Committee stated in late June that more than 1,300 houses had been destroyed by the Myanmar army in some 28 arson attacks since the February 2021 coup.
Ongoing battles, combined with the transportation difficulties regularly faced by Chin State locals during the rainy season, have made food and commodities scarce, residents have said.
Chin State Chinland Joint Defence Committee Hakha Thantlang
Salai Maung Tin Related Articles A police outpost in Surkhua, Chin State, burns after being set on fire by the CDF on May 8. (Chinland Defence Force) 친 저항 운동가는 정권에 '경고'로 경찰 전초 기지를 성화합니다. 2021년 5월 8일 게시 Caption: Smoke rises from the Lungler military outpost after troops from the CNF and CDF seized it and set it on fire on Saturday (The Chin Journal) 친 반군 단체, 인도 국경 근처 군사 전초 기지 점령 2021년 9월 13일 에 게시됨 계속 읽기 기부 독립 언론이 미얀마에서 공격을 받고 있습니다... 우리가 권력자들에게 책임을 물을 수 있도록 도와주세요.
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MYANMAR NOW KNU says more than 150,000 displaced in its territory Figures released by the group suggest that Myanmar’s post-coup humanitarian crisis is rapidly escalating
Linn Htin Published on Aug 16, 2022
Displaced locals flee army shelling in Kyauk Gyi Township, Bago Region, on June 29 (KNU) Displaced locals flee army shelling in Kyauk Gyi Township, Bago Region, on June 29 (KNU)
Recent military operations in Mon State and Bago Region have displaced more than 150,000 people, according to a statement released by the Karen National Union (KNU) on Sunday.
Heavy shelling by regime forces in Mon State’s Thaton District and Bago Region’s Nyaunglebin Township, which are under the control of KNU brigades 1 and 3, respectively, has forced a total of 154,866 civilians in these areas to flee their homes, the statement claimed.
If correct, these numbers represent a dramatic escalation of the humanitarian crisis in eastern Myanmar and other parts of the country that have seen strong resistance to last year’s coup.
According to figures released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on July 31, the military takeover and its aftermath have produced more than 866,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) nationwide.
Combined with the number of people displaced by pre-coup conflicts, this brings the current number of IDPs in the country to more than 1.2m, according to OCHA’s estimates.
In its statement, the KNU said that there were also large numbers of IDPs in its territory in Karen (Kayin) State, especially in Mutraw (Hpapun) District and Myawaddy Township.
However, exact figures were not available, it added.
According to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), the military has also been obstructing efforts to assist IDPs by preventing groups and individuals from transporting supplies to people in need.
“It’s a huge human rights violation to prevent civilians from receiving humanitarian aid. So many of the IDPs’ basic rights are being violated and they have no security at all,” said KHRG spokesperson Saw Nandar Htoo.
Local humanitarian aid organisations say that basic necessities such as food and shelter are in short supply.
It was unclear how many civilian casualties there have been from the junta’s indiscriminate shelling, but last Wednesday, there was one confirmed death in Htoe Wah Sike, a village in Nyaunglebin Township.
The victim, a 52-year-old woman named San Oo, suffered multiple injuries after a shell landed on her home, sources said. She died at the hospital later the same day.
The regime has also carried out numerous airstrikes against the KNU and its allies in the area, resulting in civilian deaths and mass displacement, local sources have reported.
Karen State Internally Displaced Persons IDPs Karen National Union
Linn Htin Related Articles Weapons seized by a combined force of KNLA and ANC troops on May 7 are put on display. (Photo: ANC) Rakhine nationalist group joins KNU in fight against military Published on May 8, 2021 Residents of Oo Ka Yit Hta flee their homes after junta shells hit their community on June 28 (Supplied) Heavy fighting reported as KNU continues assault on junta outpost near Thai border Published on Jun 28, 2022 Donate Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.
DONATE NOW Political prisoner handed three-year sentence for hunger strike Naung Htet Aung and other inmates who took part in the protest at Mandalay’s Obo Prison were also severely beaten, sources said
Mary Hnin Published on Aug 16, 2022
The interior of Obo Prison in Mandalay (Myanmar Now) The interior of Obo Prison in Mandalay (Myanmar Now)
A student leader imprisoned last year for taking part in anti-coup protests has been handed an additional three years behind bars for staging a hunger strike, according to activist sources.
Naung Htet Aung, 26, who was arrested in Mandalay last November and later found guilty of incitement, received the sentence without trial on Wednesday, said a spokesperson for the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU).
A day before the new sentence was handed down, Naung Htet Aung was brutally beaten and placed in solitary confinement, the ABFSU spokesperson told Myanmar Now.
“They beat him up and fired slingshots at him. We were told they also used tasers. According to our latest intel, he and 15 other political prisoners are still in solitary,” he said.
According to the spokesperson, Naung Htet Aung and the other hunger strikers sustained serious injuries in the crackdown.
“Three of his front teeth were knocked out and he also has wounds on his back. Some were even crippled by their injuries,” he said.
A protester is arrested by junta troops in Mandalay in February (Myanmar Now) Student union members, education staff arrested in Mandalay raid The former student union leaders and strike committee staff were taken into junta custody in a raid by 100 soldiers on a safe house in Chanayethazan Township
Political prisoners at Mandalay’s Obo Prison began their hunger strike on August 1 to protest the execution of prominent regime opponents Phyo Zayar Thaw and Ko Jimmy, also known as Kyaw Min Yu, and two other prisoners in late July.
Naung Htet Aung is the former chair of the Yangon Education University Student Union. He was one of eight people arrested during a raid on a safehouse in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township last November.
The ABFSU also expressed grave concern about other student leaders who were taken into regime custody last year.
The group said that Aye Nandar Soe, the chair of the Sagaing Education University Students Union, disappeared last September after being arrested at a military checkpoint on a bridge linking Sagaing and Mandalay regions.
She was reportedly taken to an army compound where troops from Light Infantry Division 33 were stationed and has not been heard from since, according to the ABFSU.
Lin Paing Soe, a student union member who attended Kyaukse Technological University in Mandalay’s Kyaukse Township, also went missing at around the same time and is feared dead.
More than 40 student union members are still being detained in prisons all over the country, the ABFSU said.
Political Prisoners Obo Prison Mandalay Region Naung Htet Aung Student Activists
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DONATE NOW ‘The smell of rotten flesh was everywhere’ – Several civilians killed in junta assault on Sagaing village Eighteen people are found dead after a prolonged Myanmar army assault on a Yinmabin Township village involving airstrikes, a ground offensive and days of occupation
Khin Yi Yi Zaw Published on Aug 16, 2022
A burned house smoulders following the military’s three-day raid on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now) A burned house smoulders following the military’s three-day raid on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
Content warning: This report contains a graphic image of human remains
The remains of 18 people, including the body of a 10-year-old girl, were found in a village in Myanmar’s heartland this week following three days of occupation by the military, according to locals and members of resistance groups active in the area.
In one of the most violent and prolonged assaults by the junta’s forces in recent days, regime troops besieged the village of Yin Paung Taing in southern Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township on Thursday afternoon. The attack started with the launch of airstrikes from three Mi-35 fighter jets and continued as some 60 soldiers were dropped from three helicopters to carry out a ground offensive, stationing themselves in a village monastery until Sunday morning, residents told Myanmar Now.
Locals and resistance fighters who returned to Yin Paung Taing after the troops had left initially found the bodies of 12 slain civilians, all of whom they were able to identify. As the search for casualties continued on Monday, six more people were found dead, and at the time of reporting, their identities were not confirmed.
Nine of the first 12 bodies had wounds that appeared to have been caused by light and heavy weaponry, according to a 40-year-old man who was involved in the search for his neighbours.
A burned house smoulders following the military’s three-day raid on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now) A burned house smoulders following the military’s three-day raid on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
Among the victims were two children: 10-year-old Khine Khine Win and 17-year-old Thaw Bhone Naing. There were also five men between the ages of 24 and 73, and two women, aged 45 and 52. Six of the 18 people who were killed—including Khine Khine Win—had suffered burns.
Two other elderly women, both aged 85, are believed to have died of starvation as they hid in the village during the raid.
A 67-year-old man also died from respiratory issues while fleeing the junta attack, the local man who spoke to Myanmar Now said.
By the time that many of the bodies were found, they had decomposed to the point where they could not be moved and had to be cremated on-site.
“They must have been dead since August 11, so it was impossible to pick up their bodies,” the man recalled. “Even cows, dogs and horses were shot by artillery. The whole village was torn down.”
“The village felt like a cemetery and the smell of rotten flesh was everywhere,” he said.
The body of a villager killed in the military attack on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now) The body of a villager killed in the military attack on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
Ambush from above
Yin Paung Taing, which has a population of nearly 3,000, is located 10 miles south of the town of Yinmabin. The three fighter jets which launched the airstrikes on the village came from Monywa, a city around 35 miles east of Yin Paung Taing across the Chindwin River, and where the junta’s Northwestern Military Command is located.
On the day of the assault, a market fair had been taking place in the village, drawing crowds and making it difficult for those present to immediately flee the air attacks, according to one man who managed to flee to safety.
“One helicopter dropped off soldiers at the entrance of the village and the other two hovered around the village and relentlessly fired from the left and the right. Some people escaped. Some didn’t,” he said.
Yin_paung_taing.Png A map showing the location of Yin Paung Taing in southern Sagaing Region A map showing the location of Yin Paung Taing in southern Sagaing Region
The man recalled that the military aircraft appeared soon after around 80 resistance fighters travelling from neighbouring Chin State had stopped at the village to rest on the afternoon of August 11. He speculated that the Myanmar army had received intel regarding the guerrilla force’s movements and that its members had likely been the target of the attack.
“The jets hovered around the place where members of that group were having lunch and they opened fire on that area, so I think someone must have informed the military that they would be here,” he explained.
He told Myanmar Now that he narrowly escaped the air assault on Thursday afternoon with his wife, teenage daughter and young son. He described how he carried the boy—a toddler—in one arm and held his wife’s hand with the other as they ran upon hearing the sound of incoming jets.
“I held up my son tightly and covered him with my body so that he would not get shot,” he said, adding that the family had no time to gather any belongings.
He left his son and wife under a tree outside the village and returned to locate his daughter and bring her to safety.
Yin_baung_taing_12_1.Jpg An animal killed in the Yin Paung Taing village raid (Myanmar Now) An animal killed in the Yin Paung Taing village raid (Myanmar Now)
Those who remained trapped in Yin Paung Taing during the raid were among the community’s most vulnerable residents, including the sick and elderly, many of whom were injured in the siege and held hostage by the military.
Bala, a member of the Yinmabin-based Young Ranger Force, said that fighters from at least 10 local resistance groups—including his—tried to rescue as many civilians as possible, but were overwhelmed by the number of wounded.
“Some of the people were hit by the fragments of walls and windows that had been blasted apart by the shells dropped from the jets,” he explained. “Some had their legs broken and some were even hit right in the head with the shells. We were able to rescue some of them but we had to leave some behind out of desperation.”
He said that the members of the resistance coalition managed to guide the Chin fighters to safety before the junta troops airlifted into Yin Paung Taing had set up posts and began firing artillery into the surrounding area.
Yin_paung_taing.Jpeg Vehicles destroyed in the military attack on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now) Vehicles destroyed in the military attack on Yin Paung Taing (Myanmar Now)
On the following day, August 12, the local defence forces attacked the occupying military column, which responded with airstrikes. Resistance fighters turned their fire to the junta aircrafts hovering over the area.
When the Myanmar army soldiers left Yin Paung Taing at around 6am on Sunday, they released the women and elderly residents who they had held captive, but took 24 men with them as hostages.
As the troops—accompanied by some 70 pro-junta militia members—headed west, a fighter jet fired at villages in their path to “clear” the area in preparation for the military column’s departure, according to members of local defence forces. Hundreds of residents reportedly fled from the communities of Pu Htoe Thar and Mon Thwin, both located along the road travelled by the junta forces.
By Tuesday, the column had arrived in the village of Chin Pyit, less than 10 miles from Yin Paung Taing and located in neighbouring Pale Township. There they torched multiple homes, according to locals.
At the time of reporting, it was not known if the hostages from Yin Paung Taing were still alive.
Chin_pyit.Png A map showing township border between Yinmabin and Pale, an area that includes Yin Paung Taing and Chin Pyit A map showing township border between Yinmabin and Pale, an area that includes Yin Paung Taing and Chin Pyit
Displaced residents largely returned to Yin Paung Taing on Monday, noting that the destruction of the village was extensive, and included severe damage to the Buddhist community hall.
At least 15 motorcycles and one truck, as well as two vehicle repair garages, were also destroyed.
Yin Paung Taing was first raided in September of last year in an attack that left one civilian dead and seven beaten and tortured, according to the 40-year-old resident who recounted the most recent assault to Myanmar Now.
The military has carried out frequent aerial attacks on multiple Sagaing Region resistance strongholds, including the townships of Ayadaw, Depayin, Myinmu and Ye-U.
Bala, from the Young Ranger Force, explained that although resistance groups have often been able to fend off ground offensives by the Myanmar army, they continue to struggle when confronted with air power.
“We are not afraid to face them on the ground but we still have to flee when they launch airstrikes,” he said. “The jets flew so low while shooting at us. At least if we had anti-aircraft weapons we could fire back.”
Locals flee the village of Lel Ngauk also in Yinmabin Township, after a military arson assault on June 28 (Yinmarbin Information Center) Myanmar military launches airstrike on Yinmabin Township village, trapping civilians Dozens of villagers, including many injured by helicopter gunfire, are unable to escape their Sagaing Region community as soldiers airlifted to the area occupy the site
Yin Paung Taing Yinmabin Township Sagaing Region Chin Pyit Junta raid Air Assault Junta airstrikes air raids
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DONATE NOW Coalition of Chin resistance forces launch lethal attack on junta base near state capital Local anti-junta defence forces ambush a military post outside of Hakha in an area where locals say the junta has been attempting to set up its own administrative mechanism
Salai Maung Tin Published on Aug 15, 2022
Chin resistance fighters are seen in Chin State in an undated photo (Supplied) Chin resistance fighters are seen in Chin State in an undated photo (Supplied)
An alliance of ethnic Chin guerrilla groups ambushed a Myanmar army base between Hakha and Thantlang townships last week, claiming to have killed 10 junta soldiers.
Members of the Chinland Joint Defence Committee (CJDC) launched the attack on the site near the Themis stream on August 11, the coalition’s general secretary, Salai Timmy, said.
Myanmar Now is unable to independently confirm further details about the assault.
Salai Timmy added that an 80-soldier junta column from the base in question had been attacking villages around Hakha, the Chin State capital, including Mee Chaung and Sa Mee Chaung, as well as in Matupi Township.
Villagers from Saung Wa, a community located next to Sa Mee Chaung, had also been subjected to interrogations by the troops, a local source said.
He told Myanmar Now that he believed the junta was trying to establish a permanent presence in the area.
“I think they’re trying to seize control of the area in order to help the military council operate their government mechanism in the area,” he said, adding, “They’re sending more reinforcements so that the Chin defence forces can’t operate in the area.”
Some 220 battles have taken place between the CJDC’s forces and those of the junta since February, the coalition said in an August 11 statement.
Of those clashes, more than half were in Hakha, Falam and Mindat townships.
The military council has not released information regarding the fighting in Chin State, where it has also been widely accused of torching homes.
In Thantlang alone, the township’s Placement Affairs Committee stated in late June that more than 1,300 houses had been destroyed by the Myanmar army in some 28 arson attacks since the February 2021 coup.
Ongoing battles, combined with the transportation difficulties regularly faced by Chin State locals during the rainy season, have made food and commodities scarce, residents have said.
Chin State Chinland Joint Defence Committee Hakha Thantlang
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