NAYPYITAW, 12 November 2021, (TON): Soldiers burned down 12 houses and fired guns and artillery at fleeing residents in a village in northern Sagaing Region’s Katha Township after their infantry column was ambushed by People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters.

A local woman said “at least 20 junta soldiers were killed when the Kathta PDF intercepted their column as it marched near Moedar Lay village. After the clash, the surviving soldiers entered the village and began burning homes that they thought belonged to PDF members.”

A 40-year-old local man told Myanmar Now that a 5-year-old child was injured in the shoulders and back by shrapnel after the troops launched shells at the village.

He added “around 1,000 of the village’s 1,500 residents fled as soldiers fired more artillery at them.”

We live on the riverbank, and when it started we fled on motorboats across the river. The soldiers actually fired three shells at us while we were fleeing. They fired gunshots as well.

Moedar Lay sits on the western bank of the Ayeyarwady river, about 20 miles northeast of the town of Katha. The village is home to a regional hospital.