On Friday morning more than thirty thousand Kyaukme local villagers were demonstrating that they did not need the military that killed an innocent villager in the last week of June in Kyaukme Township, northern Shan State. The protesters held posters with the words “Tatmadaw (Burmese Military) beats and kills innocent civilians”, and “We don’t need military (Tatmadaw) that kills innocent people” and demonstrated through the downtown.
On 29 June 2020 around 9 am Burmese military IB 23 went to Hai Gui village and scoured around the villages and asked villagers if they had seen RCSS/SSA troops and forced a 56-year-old farmer (Loong Maung Khay) to guide them to Pang Gaen village. Before they left Hai Gui village Burmese troops shot at Pa Nai Saii, an elderly woman causing her injuries at the waist and legs.
When they arrived in Pang Gaen village the Burmese troops asked Loong Maung Khay about the Pang Gaen villagers, he told the troops that ” it seems no one in the village all the villagers have fled to hide in a safe place.” But unfortunately, a 60-year-old Loong Suu ran out of his house and was shot by the Burmese Troops and died. Then the Burmese troops accused Loong Maung Khay of lying and beat him until unconscious.
There were more than thirty thousand villagers who came to join the demonstration and it is unbelievable and we appreciate them a lot because we just thought about three thousand people would come to demonstrate peacefully with us said by the person who led it.
The demonstration started at 7 am. At first, the police didn’t allow protesters to enter the town and there was some tension between the police and the protesters during the demonstration. Protesters wanted to demonstrate peacefully and they had entered the township and expressed their right till the end of their demonstration at 12:00 pm.
Taifreedom