The Military Council troops burned down a total of 248 houses in 3 villages in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region within 3 days, according to activists from Kyunhla Township.

Two columns of the Military Council torched Myay Mon and Thayaw Kine villages in southern Kanbalu, and Chaung Kyar village in northern Kanbalu between February 19th and 21st, an activist said.

“Two villages in the south of Kanbalu and one in the north suffered arson. 218 houses were burned in Myay Mon village and 1 in Thayaw Kine. And a house collapsed due to shelling. In Chaung Kyar village, north of Kabalu, 28 houses, as well as granaries were burnt down. The extent of the damage is yet to be confirmed”, he told KNG.

The 80-strong column of the Military Council's 369th Light Infantry Battalion burned two villages in southern Kanbalu. A 120-strong column including the Military Council forces as well as Pyu-Saw-Htee militias based in Pay Kone village committed arson in Chaung Kyar village in the north, the activist added.

The village of Chaung Kyar suffered the arson attack by the Military Council for the third time. A total of 59 houses in the village have been destroyed during three arsons.

At least 430000 houses have been burned in Sagaing Region since the coup, and more than 650000 people have fled their homes due to conflicts, according to surveys from Data For Myanmar and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).