Bago Resistance Frees Hundreds of Survivors as Evidence of Junta Massacre Emerges

A joint resistance force has rescued more than 300 civilians who were being held hostage by regime troops following a mass killing in Bago Region’s Nyaunglebin Township, the civilian National Unity Government (NUG)’s Defense Ministry announced Tuesday.

Units from the People’s Defense Force (PDF) Bago Command and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) conducted the two-day rescue mission in Yei Twin Gone village tract on Saturday and Sunday, a PDF fighter told The Irrawaddy. The PDF and KNLA serve as the armed wings of the NUG and Karen National Union (KNU), respectively.

The rescue was launched after regime forces killed around 40 Yei Twin Gone villagers and detained hundreds more during raids following an early-morning airstrike on March 5, according to the NUG.