Burmese rebels denounce a massacre of 23 civilians at the hands of the military

March 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Burmese Army soldiers would have killed 23 civilians, a woman and three Buddhist monks, in an attack on the village of Nam Name, in Shan state, in the south of the country, according to what rebel groups have denounced.

The soldiers arrived at 5:00 in the morning on Saturday in this village under the cover of howitzer fire launched from a nearby hill, denounced the rebel organizations, quoted by the Irrawaddy news portal.

Already in the morning a series of intense combats began between the military and militiamen of the Popular Defense Force (FDP), the Defense Force of Karen Nationalities (FDNK) and the Karen Revolution (KRU) arriving from Pinlaung, Pekon, Mobye , Naypyidaw and Kayah State. The soldiers set fire to several houses, according to the KRU.

Rebel militias have managed to seize significant amounts of ammunition from regular forces and there are believed to be heavy casualties among the military, according to the KRU. There are also wounded among the rebel forces, who had to leave the town when air support arrived, already in the afternoon.

On Sunday morning the militants returned to the village and found the lifeless bodies of the 23 civilians and have published images of the battered bodies left in the streets, most with gunshot wounds to the head. Three of the deceased are Buddhist monks who were killed in the village monastery.

Official media have for their part reported the death of several Karen militiamen and have published photos of these civilians in which homemade compressed air weapons appear next to the corpses.

A military spokesman, Major General Zaw Min Tun, explained that “terrorist groups” such as the PDF, FDNK and Karen National Progressive Party (PPNK) ambushed the military and paramilitaries of the Pa-O National Army. Zaw has claimed that there have been civilian casualties as a result of random shots from “terrorists”.

Myanmar has been mired in civil war since the coup on February 1, 2021. In about a year, more than 3,120 people have been killed in the junta’s operations and another 16,432 are still in detention, according to data from the Association of Assistance for Political Prisoners of Burma (AAPP).

The Government of National Unity has indicated that the Myanmar Army has committed more than 30 massacres of civilians across the country since the Army’s takeover.