Junta soldiers set fire to houses in two villages in Sagaing Region’s Salingyi Township on the morning of 24 September.

They burned down and completely destroyed six houses in Thaekawkyi Village and nine houses in Oakshitpyar Village, according to locals.

One said: “When villagers heard that Military Council troops were approaching the villages in Salingyi Township some of the locals fled. We learned that Oakshitpyar and Thaekawkyi villages had been set on fire.”

Villagers said that the junta soldiers had also kidnapped three women from Thaekawkyi Village who have not yet been released.

Since junta troops entered the area thousands of people have fled from seven villages in Salingyi Township, including Oakshitpyar and Thaekawkyi.