October 13, 2024

Troops from the Northwestern Command of the Myanmar military, based in Monywa, entered Butalin town in Sagaing Region and massacred an entire family, including two children. According to local sources, the massacre occurred on the morning of October 12, when the military raided a general store owned by a family. The victims included the shop owners—a husband and wife—their 25-year-old daughter, their 16-year-old son, and their adopted 7-year-old niece.

Eyewitnesses reported that the 7-year-old child was killed by strangulation, while the other four victims were bound with rope and shot in the head. That same day, a total of eight civilians, including the children, were reportedly killed by junta forces in Butalin, with no justification for the killings, according to local residents.

The junta’s troops, numbering over 100, have been conducting a military operation throughout the entire Butalin township, with aerial strikes accompanying ground assaults. Between October 6 and 11, it is reported that nearly 50 civilians, most of them women, were taken as human shields. Among those detained were children as young as 15.

This follows a September 30 incident in Kuto Village, Butalin Township, where a column of 85 soldiers, led by Major Kyaw Tint (from Light Infantry Battalion 106), was ambushed by PDF and allied forces. The ambush resulted in 33 junta soldiers killed and 43 others captured, according to a statement from the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Defense (MOD).