Junta forces have been rounding up residents of a village in Myanmar’s southern Tanintharyi region, arresting more than 100 since Sept. 6, locals told RFA.
Troops entered Ba Wa Pin village in Dawei township at the start of the month, after fighting erupted between military council forces and local defense groups on the road to Htee Khee, which is on the Thai border.
Among the nearly 180 junta troops, local battalion Numbers 401, 402 and other joint forces are still stationed in the village, a member of the Ah Shae Taw (East Forest) People’s Defense Force (PDF) told RFA.
“Among the arrested are local villagers and displaced people from other villages. They arrested children and adults and are holding them hostage,” a local PDF member said.
“They [the junta forces] have another army column that is fighting with Kaw Thoo Lei’s army on the Dawei-Htee Khee road. They are planning to join that army column. They told us that if we start shooting, they will kill the villagers.”
RFA has not been able to independently verify these comments, and the State Administration Council (SAC) has not released any statement on the situation.
A local PDF has warned residents to stop using the road due to the ongoing fighting. The Kaw Thoo Lei Army is stationed on the border between Tanintharyi and Htee Khee.
At least 214 civilians have been killed and 89 injured in Tanintharyi region since last year’s coup, local research group Southern Monitor said at the end of last month.
It said at least 17,415 people had been forced to flee their homes, while 93 homes were destroyed in arson attacks since Feb. 1, 2021.
Residents of the region told RFA that armed resistance in the region picked up in Aug. last year in response to the junta’s crackdowns on civilians.