NAYPYITAW, 30 July 2021, (TON): Locals found the bodies of eight men in two locations in the forest surrounding Zee Pin Twin village in Sagaing Region’s Kani Township.

The discovery followed a clash between the junta’s armed forces and the local People’s Defence Force (PDF) near the village on the previous evening in which a number of villagers and PDF soldiers went missing.

In the locals’ search for the missing people, they initially discovered seven bodies, including some buried together in a fresh grave.

A villager who was on the search team, said “we found four bodies in a hole and three on the ground, so it was seven in total.”

Of the three men who were not buried, one was found hanging from a tree.

The deceased included two elderly men, one man with a disability, and four men between the ages of 18 and 30.

Locals noted that wounds and disfigurement of all of the men’s bodies indicated that they had been subjected to torture.

“One didn’t even have eyes anymore. The others had injuries on their shoulders and chins,” the witness who helped with the exhumation said, describing bruising that looked like it had been inflicted with rifle butts.