Arakan Army (AA) spokesman U Khaing Thukha has confirmed that the ethnic armed group has detained junta soldiers in retaliation for the regime’s arrest of AA members.
“Yes, we have detained some Myanmar military personnel in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun lately. It is because the Myanmar military has arrested our members,” U Khaing Thukha told DMG.
“If the Myanmar military releases our members, we will also release theirs,” he added.
The AA spokesman, however, refused to provide details about how many and where the AA members were detained.
Following the AA’s detention of a junta soldier in Ponnagyun Township on June 16, the Myanmar military detained at least five residents in the town on suspicion of having ties to the ethnic armed group.
U Khaing Thukha said the residents detained by the military are innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the Arakan Army.
“The Myanmar military unfairly detained innocent civilians in Ponnagyun. These are human rights violations and a threat to local people,” he said.
DMG phone calls to Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura and regime spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun went unanswered.
Veteran Arakanese politician U Pe Than said the Myanmar military is targeting Arakanese people because it cannot contain the Arakan Army and its influence in Arakan State.
“Instead of responding militarily or politically to the AA’s activities, the Myanmar military has detained the people. This only makes people feel unsafe. It is not what a good government does,” he told DMG.
The streets of Ponnagyun have been largely deserted in recent days as residents have felt compelled to stay inside their homes amid junta troops’ patrols and checks on roads.
“They check all the passers-by. People dare not go out. I don’t know what they check. The whole town is silent, and no one dares to go out,” said one resident.
According to a list compiled by DMG, the AA detained three junta soldiers in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun, and one at Tin Nyo village in Mrauk-U, from June 11-17.
