BANGKOK: Myanmar villagers and anti-coup fighters have accused troops of burning hundreds of homes in the country’s restive northwest, as the junta seeks to crush resistance to its rule.

Mass protests against last year’s coup have been met with a brutal military crackdown, and violence has flared across Myanmar as civilians form “people’s defense forces” to oppose the junta.

A woman from Bin village in the Sagaing region, which has seen recent clashes, said troops had arrived in the early hours of Monday.