Indaw Residents Forced to Clear Decomposing Myanmar Junta Soldiers’ Bodies Without Protective Gear

Kachin News Group

Bodies of junta troops killed during the clashes in Indaw Township. (Photo: Original uploader)

Residents in Indaw Township, near the border of Sagaing Region and Kachin State, are being forced to retrieve and cremate dozens of decaying junta soldiers abandoned after recent clashes, while working without basic protective equipment or medical support.

Heavy fighting in October around Mezar, Lelpyin, and Nantthea villages resulted in substantial casualties for the Myanmar military.

Following the junta’s withdrawal, troops left dead soldiers unburied across residential compounds, roadsides, drainage ditches, and monastery grounds.

Between 50 and 60 corpses were left scattered along a stretch connecting Peininn and Ywarthit villages.

On November 2 alone, locals discovered at least 10 bodies inside the Ywarthit monastery compound and along adjacent roads.

As the remains began to decompose, local volunteers, village administrators, and allied resistance fighters organized clearance operations to prevent disease outbreaks.

However, the task has been compounded by severe safety risks, including landmines planted near the corpses.

“We have no protective gear at all. We are just wearing basic masks to endure the stench,” said a local volunteer involved in the operation. “Because landmines were planted near the bodies, we have to pull them with hooks from a distance before cremating them. Some cannot be moved, so we burn them right on the roadside.”

Volunteers lack basic medical supplies like heavy-duty gloves and surgical masks, forcing some to handle human remains without any barrier.

Local healthcare infrastructure has also collapsed under ongoing conflict, leaving the area with virtually no open hospitals, clinics, or pharmacies if workers contract infections or suffer injuries.

Although military units have pulled back, displaced residents remain unable to return to their homes due to unexploded ordnance and persistent security risks.

Those entering the villages are doing so only temporarily to complete the body clearance.

Operations continue, with local teams expecting to find additional remains as they clear other battle-damaged villages across the township.