Charred remains were found in four of the at least 30 homes in Mon Taing Pin that were burned down by regime forces during a two-day occupation of the village that began on May 10 (Supplied)  

Locals say they continue to find the remains of victims killed by regime troops who occupied their villages last week 

By Myanmar Now

Residents of two villages in Sagaing Region’s Ye-U Township that were occupied by junta soldiers last week say they found more charred corpses over the weekend.

Late last week, Myanmar Now reported that six bodies had been discovered in a house in the village of Mone Taing Pin after regime forces left early Thursday morning.

Since then, however, the remains of at least 11 more people have been found in the village, while a search of the neighbouring village of Inpin, which is separated from Mone Taing Pin by just one farm, yielded 10 more.

“Two houses had six bodies each in them, another had three, and there were two more in a fourth house. There were also 10 more in Inpin,” said a Mone Taing Pin resident who did not want to be named.

The 27 bodies are all believed to belong to villagers abducted by regime forces operating in the area. While the cause of death was not clear, there was some evidence to suggest that the victims had been murdered before their bodies were burned.

“There was blood in the front of the houses, so it looks like they were killed outside and then dragged inside and set on fire,” said the villager.

A map shows the location of Mone Taing Pin and Inpin in Sagaing Region’s Ye-U Township (Myanmar Now)  

More than 100 Mone Taing Pin residents had reportedly been abducted when the troops entered the village last Tuesday. One 60-year-old man who managed to escape said that the soldiers took around 30 people, including three monks, with them when they left on Thursday.

“I saw them take 30 men away with their hands tied behind their backs, in groups of five,” he said.

“Eight of us who were tied up inside the monastery were able to get away when they started getting ready to leave at around 2am that night,” he added.

According to the man, who asked to remain anonymous, the troops repeatedly beat some of the abductees and demanded to know where local People’s Defence Force (PDF) groups were hiding.

Residents of Mone Taing Pin said they believed their village was targeted because of a clash between regime forces and PDF fighters in the area early Tuesday morning.

Two local men, both in their 20s, were killed when junta soldiers opened fire with heavy artillery during the fighting, locals said.

More that 30 houses in the village of some 400 households were torched during the two-day occupation, they added.

Local PDF forces said they refrained from attacking the junta column after it left Mone Taing Pin because they did not want to cause any more civilian casualties among the junta hostages.

Original Post: Myanmar Now