Introduction
“The sounds of crying children,
crying out for “Mother, Mother”, echoed the entire area around Let Htoke Taw village.
The children and family members of the victims who were arrested and massacred by junta soldiers were crying. The victims encountered this tragedy while hiding in the compound of a monastery, believing that they were safe.
Like the Let Htoke Taw village incident, the people have witnessed the massacres committed by junta soldiers against the civilians in all 14 regions and states.
Burma News International (BNI)-Myanmar Peace Monitor’s Bi-Weekly News Review for this week puts a spotlight on the massacre in Let Htoke Taw village in Myinmu Township of Sagaing Region and the massacres of five or more than five people across the country.
The Let Htoke Taw village incident
It was at around 5am on 11 May 2024. The military council troops fired heavy shells and small arms at the village, from a distance in Myinmu Township in Sagaing Region. At the same time, a military column with a strength of around 70 junta soldiers surrounded the village. Then, they entered the village in three columns.
At midnight, before the military column stormed the village, the local defense force took preventive measures such as warning through whistle-blowing and door-to-door evacuations. Some people decided to flee to the monastery only when the junta troops entered the village.
A local man from Myinmu, who did not want to be named for security reasons, recounted the incident.
“Some people fled to the monastery, assuming that they would be safe there. The village was surrounded by three columns when they came in. The military column fired heavy shells and shots. When the military column entered the monastery compound and saw a lot of people there, junta soldiers yelled, “We have found you here”. The people in the monastery were dragged out. Junta soldiers interrogated the villagers about the whereabouts of the PDF members. When the villagers replied that they knew nothing, junta soldiers beat the villagers with gun butts without asking anything and then fatally shot them in the head. Then they kicked the victims and said that this guy was still alive, so they shot the victim again until they died. 1
The incident resulted in 32 civilian deaths— six men killed by the heavy shells and small arms fired by the military columns, 24 men and one woman shot dead in the monastery compound and one wounded man died on the way to the hospital. 2
When the junta soldiers withdrew after burning down civilian houses in the village with around 800 households, they abducted more than 20 civilians including women and children to the monastery in Gwaypintaw village located more than two miles from the village, as human shields, according to the report by the Ministry of Human Rights under the National Unity Government (NUG).
The massacres of five or more people
Since May 2022, the BNI-MPM has started documenting the deaths of junta soldiers, PDF/LDF members and civilians in the battles. In over two years from 1 May 2022 to 15 May 2024, a total of 4,042 civilians were reportedly killed in the armed conflicts.
There were 154 cases of the massacres of five or more people. These incidents were recorded in 94 townships in 14 regions and states. As many as 1,446 civilians were killed in the massacres.
Sagaing Region topped the list of massacres with 48 cases, followed by Arakan State with 16 and Mandalay Region with 14. Similar incidents were also reported in Kachin State, northern Shan State, Karenni (Kayah) State, Magway Region, Bago Region (East), Karen State, Chin State, Shan State (South) and Tanintharyi Region.
According to the BNI-MPM’s records, there were 76 cases of arrests and killings targeting civilians when 154 incidents of massacres were analyzed. It accounts for nearly 50 percent of the massacre incidents. Aerial bombardment is the second highest on the list of massacres with 42, followed by artillery shelling with17.
There were 15 massacres that occured during the fighting between the junta troops and resistance forces, two cases of massacres of prisoners, one case caused by a bomb blast and one case caused by a landmine explosion.
Take a look at the incidents and civilian deaths by cause, 615 civilian deaths were caused by arrests and killings targeting them, 568 by aerial bombardments, 112 by heavy shelling and 130 by armed conflicts.
In just the four and a half months from 1 January to 15 May 2024, there were 49 cases of massacres of more than 5 people. Aerial bombardment is the most common cause of death.
Review
Myanmar’s coup has entered its fourth year. The defensive war by Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) and People’s Defense Forces/Local Defense Forces (PDFs/LDFs) has transformed into the offensive.
The junta facing multiple military fronts across the country, blatantly committed attacks, arrests and killings targeting defenseless civilians. In the case of Let Htoke Taw village, it is evident that the military council stormed the village without any ground fighting and carried out targeted attacks on civilians. There is no expectation of leniency for the people from the junta which has not received the public’s support since the coup.
It is the responsibility of the various resistance forces to reduce the targeted arrests and killings of civilians. They must bring justice to the people who have lost their lives and life. They will have to take the lives and life of the civilians into consideration as the resistance war has gained momentum along with the expansion of military areas and the battles to capture camps and towns.
“The sounds of crying children,
crying out for “Mother, Mother”, echoed the entire area around Let Htoke Taw village.
1 Interview with a local man from Myinmu, who did not want to be named for security reasons, about the mass killing of 32 civilians in Let Htoke Taw village in Myinmu Township, BNI-MPM, 21 May 2024
2 Massacre of 32 civilians in Let Htoke Taw village in Myinmu Township, NUG-MOHR, 12 May 2024