The bodies of three local men who were shot dead when the military council column entered Kawbein village in Kawkareik Township of Karen State, were discovered on 27 April, according to locals.
The victims went missing when the military column entered the villages on 25 April.
A local from Kawtpalaing village said: “They went missing the same day. One victim was shot dead in Kawbein market after the junta soldiers seized his motorbike. The second one was shot dead beside the creek in the west of Kawpalaing after his face was wrapped with a cloth. He was brutally shot dead. We had difficulty in identifying him. We found the decomposed body.”
The victims are: Min Aung Chan, 30, from Kawpalaing village in Kyaikmayaw Township, Nai Sike G, 36, from Kawbein village in Kawkareik Township and a 30-year-old unidentified man who died in Bawbein station market.
On 28 April, the body of Min Aung Chan was cremated in Kawpalaing cemetery. Nai Sike G’s body was buried in the place where his body was found, the Kawpalaing local added.
“The bodies of two victims have been cremated. The rest can’t be identified. He was found in Kawbein market. His body has decayed. We can’t collect the body as he is not identified. The body has not been collected yet as the village has no philanthropists. The bodies were cremated with the use of old tires,” said the local.
On 25 April, the military council’s Infantry Battalion-81 Zarthapyin which conducted an offensive, entered Kawbein and Kawpalaing villages via water route, arrested and committed violent acts against villagers, in collaboration with the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) which has a strength of hundred soldiers.
A local woman was killed as the military council carried out indiscriminate firing while the military column entered Kawbein village, locals said.
Currently, the military council has regained control of Kawbein police station which was captured and burned by the joint revolutionary force. However, the military council has not been stationed there, according to locals.
On 25 April, the locals fled for safety as the military council’s column entered Kawbein, Kawpauk, Kawpalaing and Kawmeik villages.
The military council soldiers broke into the empty houses and stole valuables and household utensils.
Sent by IMNA.