Myanmar Army Kills 21 Refugees at Shan State Monastery

Junta troops killed 21 villagers, including three monks, in an attack on a monastery in Shan state’s Pinlaung township, according to the Pa-O National Defense Force.

In a statement issued on Sunday, he said the Myanmar army carried out a dawn raid on the village of Nan Neint the previous day.

An information officer from the Karenni National Defense Force, who arrived at the scene after the killings, said most of the victims were shot dead.

“We can confirm from our comrades and scouts that the junta troops entered the town,” said the official who declined to be named. “We can confirm that… people were killed. Most of them were shot. I think most of the troops were from the 66th Army.he Division.”

He said the dead were between 25 and 30 years old. The bodies were taken by the Karenni National Defense Force for forensic examination.

In a Monday broadcast on regime-controlled Myanmar Radio and Television, junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun accused the Karen National Progressive Party and the Karenni National Defense Force of carrying out the killings and blamed to the junta troops.

“The Pa-O region has always been a peaceful region, but the KNPP and KNDF groups in the south are broadcasting this news to destroy the peace and stability of the Pa-O region, and intend to create illusions among the government and the army and Pa-O people”, he said.

Fighting between the army, ethnic Karenni fighters and local People’s Defense Forces has intensified in Shan State in recent weeks, according to members of anti-regime forces.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.