Villagers uncovered 18 charred bodies after junta forces burned homes in a village in central Myanmar, residents and defence forces told Radio Free Asia.
Junta soldiers and the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia attacked a village in Monywa township on Saturday morning. Roughly 80 soldiers stationed nearby stormed Kya Paing village and began torching houses, causing locals to flee, Kya Paing residents said.
On Saturday evening, villagers returned to the area and found the bodies of 18 people badly burned near Kya Paing, a member of Monywa township defence forces said.
“We are now cleaning up the fire debris in the village,” he said, declining to be named for security reasons. “The bodies are deformed, and only the bones remain. We’re still cleaning, and I am praying that we will not find another body again. Up to 170 or 180 houses were burned.”