Junta troops killed two civilians and burned down 10 houses in the eastern part of Matara Township, Pyin Oo Lwin District, Mandalay Region, according to locals.
The junta column with 90 forces that came out from Matara Town in four FAW trucks and a car, killed two people at around 3:00 a.m. yesterday (February 27th).
“They (the deceased people) may have been killed because they ran into a column. The bodies were found near the old village of Sin Ywa – with the open wounds in their head,” a resident of Matara Township told MPA.
“At 3:00 a.m., a column of about 90 forces entered the new village of Sin Ywa and Myo Htin. At 8:00 a.m., ten houses were burned down in Myitkan village and the new village of Sin Ywa. The bodies were found at about 4:00 p.m. when the column retreated,” explained the news officer of the Matara People Defense Force (Pa-Ka-Hpa under the NUG).
The two people who were killed by the junta troops were Hla Tun (male), 58 years old, from Myo Htin Village and Win Min Tun (male), 38 years old, from Thae Phyu Chaung Village.
The column consisted of militiamen who had been trained at the Mandalay Palace and Pyu Saw Htee militiamen from Ye Nan Thar Village, Matara Township. Currently, the column has retreated to Matara Town.
“As soon as the people from the villages where the column entered returned to their villages when they heard that the junta troops had returned, some of them were still avoiding it,” said a resident of Matara Township.
Junta troops raided a local defense camp in Sakar Pin Village, Matara Township on February 19, and killed three PDF soldiers and five young civilians.