Outrage spread on social media in Myanmar on Wednesday over images and accounts of the alleged killing and burning of 11 villagers captured by government troops in the country’s northwest.
Photos and a video of charred corpses in Done Taw village in Sagaing region circulated widely on Tuesday. They were said to be have been taken shortly after the men were killed and their bodies set on fire.
The material could not be independently verified. An account given to The Associated Press by a person who said he went to the scene generally matched descriptions of the incident carried by independent Myanmar media.
The government has not commented on the allegations. If confirmed, they would be the latest atrocity in an increasingly bitter struggle following the military’s seizure of power in February and ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The takeover was initially met with non-violent street protests, but after police and soldiers used lethal force against demonstrators, violence escalated as opponents of military rule took up arms in self defence. The witness who spoke to the AP said about 50 troops marched into Done Taw village at 11am on Tuesday, seizing anyone who did not manage to flee.
“They arrested 11 innocent villagers,” said the witness, who described himself as a farmer and an activist and asked to remain anonymous for his own safety.
He added that the captured men were not members of the locally organised People’s Defence Force, which sometimes engages the army in combat. He said the captives had their hands tied behind them and were set on fire.
He did not give a reason for the soldiers’ assault. Accounts in Myanmar media said they appeared to have acted in retaliation for an attack earlier that morning by People’s Defence Force members.
Other witnesses cited in Myanmar media said the victims were members of a defence force, though the witness who spoke to the AP described them as members of a less formally organised village protection group. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed deep concern at the reports “of the horrific killing of 11 people” and condemned such violence.