Amid growing repression by the military junta that has ruled Myanmar since the coup that took place in February, more than 30 people, including women, children and the elderly, have been killed and charred in Kayah state, in the east of the country, near the city. border with Thailand, this Friday (24).
The information was confirmed by a local resident to the Reuters news agency and has also been shared by human rights groups resisting the military regime’s asphyxiation attempts. The Karenni Group said it found the bodies in the town of Hpruso and claims that the victims were internally displaced from the conflict and were killed by the military in power.
The military has confirmed to state media — which it also controls — that it has shot and killed an unspecified number of people it describes as terrorist opposition forces carrying weapons. The victims were in seven vehicles and did not stop for the military when demanded, they said.
“We vehemently denounce the inhumane and brutal killing that violates human rights,” wrote the Karenni Group on a social network. Shared photos show the charred remains on fire trucks in the middle of the forest.
The Karenni National Defense Force, a local Kayah state militia and one of the main opponents of the junta that led the coup, said the dead were not members of the group, but civilians seeking refuge from the conflict after they left. their homes.
“We were shocked to see that all the corpses were of different sizes, including children, women and the elderly,” a group commander told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The coup d’état in the Asian country sparked an internal migration crisis that, according to data from the United Nations released in October, already totals more than 223,000 internally displaced people.
One resident, who also asked not to be identified for security reasons, said he saw the fire on Friday night but was unable to go to the scene because there was an exchange of fire in the area. This Saturday morning (25th), when he was able to go, he saw the burned corpses and also the clothes of children and women scattered about.
The members of Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar Armed Forces are called, have intensified their crackdown on popular militias fighting the coup, many of which are concentrated along the Thai border. The military carried out at least two air strikes on Thursday night (23) and artillery fire, according to the Karen National Union (KNU), another local group.
New clashes against the militia broke out last week and added to the wave of Myanmar citizens flocking to Thailand in search of safety. More than 4,200 people have crossed the border since the clashes began, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry. Civil society groups, however, say the number of displaced people reaches 10,000.
Myanmar has been experiencing a social and humanitarian crisis since the military toppled the elected government, alleging election fraud, on Feb. 1, ushering in a series of coups d’état around the world in 2021. International observers who followed the election said the vote it had been fair.
Civilians took to the streets and many took up arms. Local forces of resistance also multiplied as the violence employed by the state grew. According to updated figures from the Myanmar Political Prisoners Assistance Association, 1,375 people were killed by the military, and 8,254 were arrested. At least 39 people were sentenced to death by the regime, including two children.
The military also banned many of the opponents, labeling them traitors or terrorists. In early December, a court in the country sentenced former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who had served as a state adviser before the coup, to two years in prison on charges of inciting dissent and violating restrictions imposed to contain Covid.
The repression, which extended to the press, elevated the country to the position of second nation that most imprisoned journalists around the world this year, with 26 professionals imprisoned for exercising the profession, second only to China (50), according to a survey by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ, its acronym in English.
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