Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi returned to a junta court on Friday after skipping a previous hearing because she felt unwell, a source with knowledge of the case said.

Suu Kyi has been detained since her civilian government was ousted in a coup last year that triggered mass protests and a bloody military crackdown, with more than 1,500 civilians killed, according to a local monitoring group.

Cut off from the world except for brief meetings with her legal team and court appearances, the Nobel laureate faces a raft of charges that could see her jailed for more than 150 years.

She skipped Thursday's hearing in her trial on charges of breaching the official secrets act because she felt "dizzy", a source with knowledge of the case said.

Detained Australian academic Sean Turnell is a co-defendant alongside Suu Kyi in that case.

Suu Kyi returned on Friday for the latest hearing in one of her corruption trials, related to the leasing of a helicopter, the source said.

"Now she is well," the source added.

The 76-year-old Suu Kyi missed a hearing in September due to illness, and in October her lawyer said her health had suffered from her frequent appearances before the junta-run court.

Journalists are barred from the proceedings in the military-built capital Naypyidaw and her lawyers have been barred from speaking to the press.

On Thursday the junta announced it had filed an eleventh corruption charge against Suu Kyi for allegedly receiving $550,000 as a donation for a charity foundation named after her mother.

She has already been sentenced to six years in jail for incitement against the military, breaching Covid-19 rules and breaking a telecommunications law -- although she will remain under house arrest while she fights other charges.

Myanmar villagers accuse junta troops of burning hundreds of homes
Bangkok (AFP) Feb 5, 2022 - 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 defence forces" (PDF) 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.

"They shelled artillery and fired guns before coming in," she said on Friday, adding that the sound had sent villagers fleeing.

Troops then set fire to around 200 houses, including her own, she said, requesting anonymity.

"We could not bring anything with us. We took some warm clothes only, and then we just ran away."

Troops also torched houses in nearby Inn Ma Hte village after a local pro-junta militia was attacked by anti-coup fighters who then fled, according to one of the rebels.

"When the PDF left the village, the army burnt it down," the fighter said, adding that 600 houses had been torched.

Local media also reported that hundreds of homes had been razed in the two villages, and images obtained by AFP purporting to be of Bin village showed the remains of dozens of burnt-out buildings.

AFP could not independently verify the reports from the remote region.

The fires consumed properties, motorbikes and carts, said another local who was helping to coordinate aid for those displaced from Inn Ma Hte.

"For them, it will be difficult to regain their livelihoods," he said, requesting anonymity.

State-run TV ran a report on Thursday accusing PDF fighters of starting the fires, and published images it claimed showed burnt-out buildings destroyed by "terrorists".

The Southeast Asian country has been in chaos since a coup last February, with more than 1,500 people killed in a crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.

In August the junta said it was considering raising village militias to combat opposition to its rule, as it struggles to assert control over swathes of the country.

Sagaing has seen regular clashes and bloody reprisals.

In mid-December the United States and United Nations condemned the junta over what Washington described as "credible and sickening" reports of the killing of 11 villagers, including children, in the Sagaing region.

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