Myanmar’s junta torching ‘village after village’ in bid to quell opposition

After a year in power, evidence is growing of regime scorched-earth tactics to terrorise the civilian population

On the morning of 6 January, Boi Van Thang set out on a motorbike across the mountainous terrain of Chin state in western Myanmar. He would travel to a nearby village, he told his wife, and bring back meat for her and their seven children.

He never returned. Three days later his wife, Thida Htwe, received a call. Boi Van Thang's body had been found. The bodies of eight other men and one boy had also been discovered.