Soldiers shot four men in a village in Myanmar’s central Mandalay region and burned their bodies, a local told RFA.
Around 200 troops raided the village in Thabeikkyin township on Tuesday morning, the resident said.
Troops beat and interrogated 40-year-old Min Maung, accusing him of being a member of the local People’s Defense Force. They then arrested three more villagers.
“All four were shot dead that night. Min Maung’s wife and his two children were arrested,” said the local who didn’t want to be named for security reasons.
Residents said they didn’t know where the woman, her 10-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son had been taken.
They said troops left the village Wednesday after burning six houses and the bodies of the four dead men.
The men had no connection with the local pro-democracy militia, according to fellow villagers.
More than 1,500 people live in around 300 houses in Ma Gyi Kone village, on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river north of Mandalay city.
Junta spokesman for Mandalay region, Thein Htay, told RFA that he hadn’t heard about the raid.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said Tuesday 2,827 civilians and pro-democracy activists had been killed by junta in the two years since a military coup toppled Myanmar’s democratically elected government.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.