Myanmar army killed 17 people in 2 villages, residents say

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A resident and members of Myanmar’s anti-government resistance say soldiers have rampaged through several villages, raping, beheading and killing at least 17 people. It was the latest in what critics of the ruling military say are a series of war crimes since the army seized power two years ago. Resistance members and a man who lost his wife say the bodies of 17 people were recovered in two villages in central Myanmar. They say the victims had been detained by the military and some appeared to have been tortured before being killed. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military’s February 2021 seizure of power and some U.N. experts characterize the situation now as civil war.