Soldiers who had been stationed in Kone Se Village west of Sagaing Region’s Kyun Hla Township, set fires in the village on the morning of 18 April.

Around 180 Military troops arrived in Kone Se Village on 12 April and they set fire to the houses just before they left at around 7:30 a.m. on 18 April.

A local resident said to Mizzima: “They set the village on fire at around 6:30 a.m. The column of military troops left at about 7:30 a.m. [on 18 April] They set the fires and then immediately left the
village. At least eight houses were set on fire.”

The same villager said there were about 300 houses in the village.

Residents of Kone Se Village have reportedly been forced to flee in the past due to attacks by military troops.

Previously, at 5.30 p.m. on 15 April, the same soldiers who set fire to Kone Se Village set fire to the neighbouring village of Wai La Mu. According to a local resident about half the village burned down.

“Youths in the village had to flee. As they [junta troops] torture and arrest villagers especially young men and women, so they cannot stay in the village”, said the resident.

Wai La Mu village was also hit by airstrikes in early March.

The soldiers who set fire to the villages of Kone Se and Wai La Mu are currently stationed in Khapaung Village, about four miles away from Kone Si Village.

Internet access to villages in Sagaing Region has been cut and the military are carrying out many operations in villages in the region.