Junta forces abducted ten civilians from Ma Mone village in Myanmar’s jade town Hpakant in Kachin State around 5 am on Monday for allegedly opposing the military regime.
Ten trucks full of military personnel and police raided three houses, arrested their residents and also looted items from those houses, witnesses said.
“One of the three houses is a pawn shop. Security forces came for the pawn shop owner U Kyaw Lin, but arrested his wife and daughter instead after they could not find him. And they also arrested the residents of two other houses. Security forces went straight to those houses after informants reported them. A total of ten people were arrested and they all are now being held at Hpakant police station,” said a villager.
A police officer told The Irrawaddy that they have only arrested those engaged in drug dealing, people who have committed crimes, incited unrest, opposed the military council and who support the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow government formed to rival the military regime.
Since Feb. 7, local people in Hpakant have staged daily protests against the junta, both in urban areas and in rural parts of Myanmar’s jade-mining hub.
The rallies have featured hundreds of people who oppose the military regime and who want to show their support for the NUG and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has been fighting the Myanmar military since March in Kachin State.
Even after the Monday morning house raids, Hpakant residents staged guerilla-style protests.
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