A middle-aged man was set on fire by Myanmar junta troops stationed in Nankha village on the Kale-Gangaw Road, Raw township, Sagaing region, in a barn where dry food for cows is stored.

The junta troops with eight military vehicles in convoy arrived in Namkha village on December 29 and killed U Htwar Maung, 45, a farmer.

The troops also reportedly looted valuables from the village.

"After the soldiers had left the village at around 8 am today (December 30), when our local Revolutionary scouts arrived to clear the area, the burnt body of U Htwa Maung was found. Others can confirm it is was U Htwa Maung after checking the slippers next to him,” a spokesman for the Gangaw People's Defence Force told Mizzima.

U Htwa Maung's burnt body was buried by local resistance fighters.

The spokesman said that a 60-year-old deaf man’s mouth was taped up and his hands tied by soldiers in Namkha village who then beat him.

A villager said that the junta force, which had been stationed overnight, looted valuables and food from homes in the village.

"They fired randomly at the vicinity of village with heavy artillery around 8 pm. And then, they also searched from house to house in the village carrying away valuables,” said a local resident.

The convoy left for Kale township on December 30.

Namkha village on the Kale-Gangaw Road is a village that has been repeatedly attacked by military helicopters and most of the locals have fled. About 4,000 local residents from the village, which has more than 1,000 houses, have left for safe villages.