MAGWAY: Five government employees were brutally killed after they returned from withdrawing their salaries in Gangaw, Magway Region.

The five had their tongues and heads cut off. The bodies were burned along with the cars, according to initial reports.

The five included a school teacher, a nurse, two ward administrators. One person survived but suffered serious injuries.

Administrators are local government employed authorities and are usually official chiefs at wards and villages.

The deceased were school teacher Daw Khin Myo Tint, Nurse Thidar Win, ward/village administration clerk U Kyaw Myo Naing, ward administrators U Sein Oo and U Tar Luu. Another nurse named Ma Thae Mar Htwe managed to survive but sustained serious injuries.

“My father U Sein Oo was asked to be a ward administrator. He refused but was forced on it. He was always helping out the village with social events, funerals etc. Even when he became the ward administrator, he didn’t report or inform on anyone. He isn’t a Dalan (spy/informer). On May 31, there was a meeting of ward administrators and so he went. On the way back, he was assassinated. I want the justice for my father. I want justice,” said the daughter of U Sein Oo.

She claimed that the local People Defense Force carried out the attack.

The People Defense Force was officially formed by the National Unity Government and local groups supporting the NUG have sprung up all over Myanmar under the PDF name depending on the locale.

Daily Eleven tried contacting other families of the deceased, but could not get any response.

With regard to the incident, Yaw Defense Force (YDF) reportedly issued an online announcement stating that YDF had attempted to stop and search two ward administrators and three informants because it was tipped off that they were carrying explosives. However, the YDF claimed that the five people resisted the inspection regarding the explosives, leading to a clash in which Hantharwady administrator U Tar Luu, North Khayan Village Administrator U Sein Oo and three others were killed.

The YDF also warned others to not resist searches in the future or risk having to face use of similar force.

In the month of May, there have been multiple clashes between the YDF and the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military), which resulted in numerous casualties.

Many villagers near the scene of the crime had escaped from their homes in order to avoid being arbitrarily detained.

“I know that they were killed but we don’t know who killed them. I am afraid to go and look too. One from Thintaw Village, three from North Khayan and one from Hantharwady Village (were killed). People from our Ye Hla Village had escaped because they might think that we are the ones who did it. There were shootouts near the village last month and since they escaped into our village, shots were fired into the village and people have been searched. People are afraid so they escaped in advance,” said a monk from Ye Hla Village.

In a widely-watched interview conducted by UK-based BBC Burmese news agency, a young person who received training to resist the ruling military through arms claims that he and others wishes to attack pillars of the “military council” through violence.

These pillars include the military businesses, government workers who do not engage in the nationwide strike called the CDM as well as “dalans” or alleged informants who are presumed to be colluding with the military government.

Both the interviewer and interviewee were criticized by social media users for encouraging violence.