In Kyainseikgyi Township, Kayin State, a local woman tapping rubber was shot dead by the nearby Military Operation Command’s Light Infantry Battalion No.284, according to a statement released by the Phoenix- Special Warfare Force, a local resistance group.
A 41-year-old woman who was tapping rubber was shot by Light Infantry Battalion 284, located about 200 yards from the plantation, at a rubber plantation along the Kyainseikgyi, Kyakhatchaung roadside at 6:42 pm on January 20, and died at the scene.
A Phoenix – Special Warfare Force official said, “On previous days, her husband usually accompanied her. On that day, she was tapping rubber alone as her husband had gone to a wedding. Nearby rubber tappers normally seek permission from Light Infantry Battalion 284 before working. In this case, the shooting was deliberate and unprovoked.”
The body could not be recovered immediately due to continued gunfire and was retrieved on the morning of January 21.
With elections set for January 25, residents living near the military junta in Kyainseikgyi have been urged to remain cautious amid reports of indiscriminate gunfire.
He added that “soldiers were heavily using drugs and alcohol, and were deliberately firing to intimidate people out of fear that resistance forces might approach.”
The deliberate killing of an innocent civilian clearly demonstrates the military’s human rights violations and brutality.
The Phoenix – Special Warfare Force said it will continue to resist the military over its oppression and killings of civilians. It urged the public not to take part in the military’s sham elections.
Fighting has also been reported, with local joint resistance forces attacking military columns advancing to provide security for polling stations in village tracts where elections are to be held in Kyainseikgyi and Kawkareik townships.
