Junta forces killed a 53-year-old ethnic Kachin farmer they arrested in northern Shan State after torturing him.

“Burma Army soldiers (BA) soldiers arrested him while he was working on his farm. I don’t know what they asked him, but they beat him up and finally shot him,” a villager told SHAN on condition of anonymity about the incident on 22 November near Mang Han village.

About 500 people from 70 households live in the Kachin-majority village.

The military has been fighting with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in the village tract sharing the same name in Muse Township for over a week and a BA column has been stationed in the village since the fighting began.

”Bamar (Burmese) soldiers are preparing to march to Mongkoe. Currently, there are many soldiers in Mang Han,” said another villager, who asked not to be named.

The army has been fighting the MNDAA in Muse District for weeks, sending reinforcements to Mongkoe and Hpoung Hseng sub-townships. The fighting has displaced many civilians, and some have been killed or wounded.