On Monday, the junta in Myanmar and anti-coup protesters exchanged accusations over the murder of about 30 people who were taking refuge in a monastery.
Since a coup two years ago, the country in Southeast Asia has been in chaos as the military battles dozens of “People’s Defence Forces” (PDFs) throughout much of the nation.
As they work to crush resistance to the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, junta forces have reportedly gone on killing and burning rampages in numerous parts of the country, according to local villagers and the media.
Soldiers allegedly invaded Nam Neint village on Saturday, according to two rebel groups operating in and around Shan state: the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and the Pa-O National Defence Force.
The soldiers shot and killed 33 persons, including three Buddhist monks, after telling civilians taking refuge in a monastery to leave, according to the KNDF.
A few anti-coup fighters were slain during Saturday’s clashes in Nam Neint village, according to Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun.
He also acknowledged that some villagers’ residents had perished, but he attributed their demise to the neighborhood PDF fighters.
The people implicated could not be independently verified by AFP.
The KNDF shared images of the incident’s bloody aftermath, including some corpses that appeared to be wearing the saffron robes of the monkhood, on Facebook.
According to the Pa-O National Defense Force, 22 civilians, including three Buddhist monks, were slain by junta forces.
It also stated that its members had discovered seven additional dead corpses and were investigating their identities.
Another anti-junta organization operating in the region, the Karenni Revolution Union (KRU), provided footage to AFP on Monday.
In the video, there were about a dozen corpses lying in bloody heaps close to a wall that appeared to have been shot through. Saffron gowns are worn by three of the deceased.
