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At least 20 killed in air raid on Magway village

December 19, 2021/in News

Anti-regime forces say the military used three helicopters to strafe residents of Hnan Khar in a surprise attack on Friday At least 20 people were killed when the military deployed helicopters to carry out a surprise attack on the village of Hnan Khar in Magway Region’s Gangaw Township on Friday, according to resistance forces active […]

Photographer dies in custody in first journalist death since Myanmar coup

December 14, 2021/in News

Soe Naing was arrested while shooting a silent protest in Yangon. Photos of Soe Naing shared by his colleagues and social media show the spectrum people live in Myanmar from everyday moment to lives under the military regime. A freelance photographer arrested by junta troops on Human Rights Day has become the first journalist to […]

At least 20 killed in air raid on Magway village

December 19, 2021/in News

Photographer dies in custody in first journalist death since Myanmar coup

December 14, 2021/in News

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At least 20 killed in air raid on Magway village

December 19, 2021/in News

Anti-regime forces say the military used three helicopters to strafe residents of Hnan Khar in a surprise attack on Friday

At least 20 people were killed when the military deployed helicopters to carry out a surprise attack on the village of Hnan Khar in Magway Region’s Gangaw Township on Friday, according to resistance forces active in the area.

The attack started at around 2pm on Friday and lasted about 40 minutes, a spokesperson for the Yaw Defence Force (YDF) told Myanmar Now on Sunday.

Three helicopters were involved in the assault, said the YDF spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The 20 people who were killed included both YDF fighters and civilians living in the village, he said, adding that troops inside the helicopters also fired on a village school.

“It could be more than that. Those who went out to pick up bodies were also shot. We can’t say exactly how many yet, as we couldn’t get too close,” he added.

The YDF, which is active in Magway’s Gangaw, Htilin, and Saw townships, was holding a meeting in Hnan Khar to discuss its efforts to suppress illegal logging and drug trafficking in the region when the attack took place, the spokesperson said.

After the attack, the helicopters landed in Hnan Khar and the nearby villages of Yehla and Shwebo with troops, according to local residents.

Hnan Khar is currently occupied by around 150 junta soldiers and members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia, said one resident of the village.

“The military has been sending Pyu Saw Htee members from pro-army villages to Hnan Khar in trucks. The military is also stationed there,” the villager said.

Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify his claim at the time of reporting.

Fleeing villagers

Most of Hnan Khar’s roughly 1,000 inhabitants managed to flee the village, but some elderly residents who could not be carried out are still there, said the villager.

“We are in so much trouble now. We have to carry elderly people who can’t walk or run. Some people injured their legs or broke their arms while fleeing,” he added.

Another Hnan Khar villager who fled the military raid said that junta troops opened fire several times on Saturday on areas where villagers were sheltering.

“They fired heavy weapons towards the eastern side of the Myittha River and combed through the woods outside the village,” he said.

Residents of Hnan Khar work to put out a fire started by junta soldiers on September 13 (CJ)

Clashes and arson attacks by regime forces have destroyed dozens of houses in Hnan Khar since early September (Supplied)

The YDF spokesperson said the military torched three houses north of the now nearly deserted village on Sunday morning.

There was also shelling in the eastern part of the village later in the day, as well as more fires, according to one local woman who spoke to Myanmar Now on Sunday afternoon.

“Nobody dares to go back to the village. We heard there are troops hiding there now,” said the woman, who added that she had also heard that a number of people had been arrested since the attack on Friday.

Thousands of civilians from other villages in the area, including Shwebo, Yaeshin, and Yehla, have also fled their homes since Friday’s air raid, according to multiple sources.

Rising tensions

According to all of the sources Myanmar Now spoke to, there have been no clashes between the military and the YDF since Friday.

On Saturday, state media reported that the raid was carried out after the military received information that the YDF was holding a meeting in Hnan Khar.

“The venue was raided at around 2:40pm and terrorists fled in disarray across the Myittha River, east of the village, after a clash,” said the junta’s English-language mouthpiece, the Global New Light of Myanmar.

The report, which did not mention the use of helicopters in the attack, claimed that regime forces found the bodies of six people, as well as guns and ammunition.

A number of villages in Gangaw Township have been targeted by regime offensives in recent months, with Hnan Khar being among the hardest hit. Nearly 60 houses in the village were torched during earlier raids.

Gangaw has come under intense pressure since August, when the military suffered heavy losses in a series of attacks carried out on army convoys traveling through the township on the way to Kalay in Sagaing Region.

Tensions have risen again in recent days amid warnings by the YDF that there could be more clashes in the region soon. The group also announced on Sunday that the Kalay-Gangaw Road is closed until further notice

Myanmar Now News

Photographer dies in custody in first journalist death since Myanmar coup

December 14, 2021/in News

Soe Naing was arrested while shooting a silent protest in Yangon.

Photos of Soe Naing shared by his colleagues and social media show the spectrum people live in Myanmar from everyday moment to lives under the military regime.

A freelance photographer arrested by junta troops on Human Rights Day has become the first journalist to die while in detention since the military seized power in Myanmar more than 10 months ago.

Soe Naing was detained on Dec. 10 while documenting a nationwide “Silent Strike” boycott against junta rule to mark the United Nations day to honor human rights in Yangon’s Latha district.

News of Soe Naing’s death surfaced on social media Tuesday and was confirmed by family members, according to sources who were close to the photographer.

Photo of Soe Naing shared by his colleague.

“Just this morning, Ko Soe Naing’s cousin confirmed his death to his best friend. … His friend also contacted Soe Naing’s wife. She also confirmed his death,” a family friend told RFA’s Myanmar Service on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“His friend is not in a position to talk to the media, so I am talking on his behalf. Soe Naing’s funeral was held in the Mingalardon area.”

One of Soe Naing’s colleagues also said he had received confirmation of his death, and suggested without elaborating that the photographer was killed during an interrogation by security forces.

“We didn’t believe at first because there is no reason for them to beat a photojournalist to death,” said the colleague, who declined to be named.

“However, around 4:00 p.m., someone from our internal network updated us that a family member had confirmed his death.”

The colleague said that an hour later, word spread that Soe Naing’s body had already been cremated by the authorities.

“No one got a chance to see the body or be present at his cremation,” he said. “Now, Ko Soe Naing is gone without a trace.”

Attempts by RFA to reach Soe Naing’s relatives went unanswered on Tuesday, as family members had turned off their phones for safety reasons, sources said.

Seasoned photographer

According to the colleague, Soe Naing was a seasoned photographer who had covered many events and protests since the military removed Myanmar’s democratically elected National League for Democracy government in a Feb. 1 coup.

In the weeks and months since the coup, security personnel have committed human rights abuses including arbitrary arrests, rape and killings. More than 8,000 civilians have been arrested and 1,339 killed by junta authorities since February, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, mostly during non-violent protests of the coup.

“Even when the military started suppressing the protesters and the protests turned into guerilla-like flash mobs, he still covered these events,” Soe Naing’s colleague told RFA.

“He was calm and focused on his work. He was never involved in these protests. He only focused on covering the events. There is no reason for him to be killed. I can’t understand why they killed him.”

‘Escalation in terror’

Soe Naing’s death was addressed in a statement by Paris-based journalist watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, which called on the international community to condemn what it called an “escalation in terror against reporters” and to implement sanctions against the junta leadership.

“With Soe Naing’s death, a new tragic threshold has been crossed this morning in the terror that Myanmar’s military are using against journalists,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of the group’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“His death must serve as an alarm signal and push the international community to impose new targeted sanctions on the military junta that has been running the country since February, starting with its chief, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The world can no longer look on without doing something.”

Reporters Without Borders noted that at least three other journalists had been arrested by authorities in recent days, including freelance photographer Zaw Tun on Dec. 10, and Democratic Voice of Burma reporter Aung San Lin and regional reporter Min Theik Tun on Dec. 12.

Junta spokesman Gen. Zaw Min Tun did not respond to requests by RFA for comment on the arrests.

At least 57 journalists are currently imprisoned in Myanmar, according to Reporters Without Borders. The group ranked Myanmar 140^th out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index, published in early 2021.

Reported by Tin Aung Khine and Khet Mar for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

RFA News

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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