Burma: According to a doctor's post-mortem report, three Buddhist monks and at least 22 other people were shot dead at close range last week in central Myanmar, in what critics of the military government claim was a massacre of civilians by the army.
A junta spokesman in Myanmar claimed that although its troops had engaged in combat with rebels in the southern Shan state's Pinlaung region, they had not injured any civilians. The junta overthrew the elected government two years ago.
The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and another rebel group entered the village of Nan Neint after government forces arrived to provide security alongside a local militia, according to a statement from Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun.
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Some villagers were killed and injured when the terrorist groups opened fire in a violent manner, he claimed. Numerous requests for more comment from Reuters went unanswered. According to a KNDF spokesperson, when its soldiers entered Nan Neint on Sunday, they discovered dead bodies scattered throughout a Buddhist monastery.
The Karenni Revolution Union (KRU) and the KNDF both provided images and video that showed bullet wounds to the torsos and heads of the deceased as well as holes in the monastery's walls. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the material's authenticity.
In a post-mortem report, Dr. Ye Zaw, a member of the National Unity Government, an exiled civil administration set up after the coup, claimed that 22 people, including three saffron-robed monks, were probably killed with automatic weapons at close range.
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"It is obvious that they were civilians because no military gear, uniforms, or ammunition was found on the other bodies,"
It is obvious that this was a massacre because all of the bodies were discovered inside the grounds of the Nan Nein monastery.
According to local media reports, resistance forces, and satellite images verified by Myanmar Witness, a group that records human rights violations, fighting has been raging in the region for at least two weeks, and about 100 buildings have been burned down in and around the alleged massacre in Nan Neint.
Since the military overthrew Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's administration in February 2021, the Southeast Asian nation has been in a state of crisis. This has put an end to ten years of hesitant democratic progress.
Nationwide resistance movements, some of which are armed, have emerged. The military has suppressed these movements with lethal force and labelled them "terrorists." Additionally, some ethnic military forces have sided with the junta.
The National Unity Government's minister for human rights, Aung Myo Min, claimed that the junta had increased combat operations and attacked civilians without weapons at least four times in the previous two weeks.
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In an online press conference, he informed reporters that it was "clearly evident" the junta was targeting civilians, which was a crime against humanity.
The junta has denied that it targets civilians, claiming that its soldiers only retaliate to "terrorists'" attacks. According to the non-profit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 3,137 people have died in the military crackdown since the coup. The military has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the UN.