A junta military column of about 80 soldiers went from Sagaing Region’s Yesagyo Township and set up camp in Kyaukyit Village in Magwe Region’s Myaung Township early on the morning of 31 August.

According to Ko Nway Oo, the leader of the Civilian Defence and Security Organisation of Myaung (CDSOM), a local People’s Defence Force (PDF), the junta column entered Myaung Township at about 3:00 a.m on 31 August and set up camp at a pagoda at the western end of Kyaukyit Village.

He said that the junta troops bought 60 and 80mm mortars, machine guns and small arms with them.

At about 11.30 a.m. on 31 August the junta troops who were newly arrived in Kyaukyit Village fired a 60mm and an 80mm mortar shell into the neighboring village of Zeekyun according to Ko Nway Oo.

He said that the junta mortar rounds killed two villagers, Ko Kyaw Swar Thein aged 30, and U Khin Maung Oo aged 40 ,who suffered lacerations across their bodies, both died on the spot. 55-year-old Daw Nwet Yee suffered an injury to her hip and is undergoing medical treatment.

There are 270 households in Zeekyun Village and it has a population of about 1,000 people. There are also about 200 internally displaced people (IDPs) from other villages currently sheltering in Zeekyun Village.