Junta column assaults, interrogates villagers in Ywangan

A junta column of roughly 100 men has been roaming the Kyaukhnget and Ahlelchaung village tracts in Ywangan Township, southern Shan State, in recent days, physically assaulting and interrogating local villagers.

The junta column was first sighted in the Kyaukhnget Village Tract on September 12. Since then, soldiers have been interrogating and beating villagers heading to the orchards and firing artillery indiscriminately into the surrounding jungles to intimidate locals, a Kyaukhnget resident reported.

“They’re stationed in the village and haven’t left yet. The villagers don’t dare go to the orchards near them. Whenever they encounter the villagers, they often interrogate and beat them. At least three or four people have been beaten so badly that their backs are black. They’ve even killed and eaten the villagers’ chickens. With them around, no one feels safe,” he told Shan Herald.