Four unidentified bodies found in Minbya

14 Jun 2019

Khaing Roe La | DMG

14 June, Minbya

Four bodies were found on the morning of 14 June buried in shallow graves near Sabahtar village in Minbya Township where the Tatmadaw and AA fought fiercely.

After residents informed them, lawmakers and the villager administrator with senior villagers went and examined the bodies.

Near the bodies, some military equipment like a basket and hat were seen, lawmaker U Hla Aung Thein told the DMG.

“We saw military equipment near bodies. So, it is quite possible that it was done by Myanmar military soldiers,” he said.  

The bodies were buried in four shallow graves, that were about three feet deep, on a hill about two furlongs far from Sabahtar village.

Some body parts such as limbs stuck out from the grave. A clash broke out in the region where the bodies were discovered, U Hla Aung Thein said.

“When we arrived at Sabahtar village this morning, we went and inspected the bodies with CSOs and villagers. We saw four or five shallow graves, limbs or abdomens were seen sticking out from some of the graves. We saw some bodies at the slope of the hill,” he added.

There are other graves there but villagers did not recover bodies from those graves, local residents said.

The DMG phoned Colonel Win Zaw Oo from the Western Command to ask if Tatmadaw was concerned with the discovery of bodies, but he refused to give comment because he was in a meeting.

A fierce skirmish broke out between the Tatmadaw and the AA on 3 June at a place between Bate Taung and Sabahtar villages in Minbya Township. And, artillery shells fired from Myaung Bwe village in Mrauk-U Township hit a monastery in Sabahtar village where villagers are taking shelter, six villagers died and many people were injured.