Military council troops have set fire to the property of residents in eastern Demoso Township in Karenni State, reported a Kantarawaddy Times correspondent who observed the incidents on 20 April.
After residents were forced to flee amid fierce fighting in the area, regime troops took up positions in the villages and burned down people’s property.
Regime troops destroyed most of the property of residents of Dawnyaykhu and Dawtamagyi Villages during their advance into Dawtamagyi village tract in eastern Demoso Township, which began on 9 March.
“When we arrived at Dawnyaykhu village on 20 April, we found that the terrorist junta army had wantonly set fire to residents’ property such as cars, motorcycles and machiery. We saw houses damaged by their air raids. We also found undetonated bombs in the village,” the reporter told Kantarawaddy Times what he had seen in Dawnyaykhu village.
The junta column that carried out the arson attack consisted of soldiers from Light Infantry Battalions 516, 515 and Infantry Battalion 12, Khu Re Du of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) told Kantarawaddy Times.
“The remaining 80 soldiers from LIB 516, 515, IB 12 and LID 66 took all the belongings of the residents and burned down all the motorcycles when they arrived in Dawnyaykhu,” Khu Re Du said.
In March, a total of 228 houses, two monasteries and three schools were destroyed by targeted airstrikes and artillery fire on civilian areas in Karenni State, according to the KNDF press summary for the month of March.
Following the clashes between the advancing junta forces and the joint forces of KNDF, KA and PDF, more than 30,000 displaced people in the east of Demoso Township were again forced to flee.
Sent by the Kantarawaddy Times.