Aung Htein — A military officer and another soldier were stabbed and beaten, and the latter was abducted on June 11 in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, according to residents, a local lawmaker and the Tatmadaw.

Eight assailants attacked the two men with knives and metal rods on Thursday morning near Aye Zedi Pagoda in downtown Ponnagyun while they were shopping at the local market, Arakan State lawmaker U Aung Than Tin for Ponnagyun Township told DMG.

The attackers were dressed in plainclothes and made off with the officer’s pistol — as well as the unconscious military private — fleeing the scene on five motorbikes, a Tatmadaw statement said. It added that the Tatmadaw officer was injured in the altercation and receiving medical treatment but his condition is not considered life-threatening.

DMG was unable to confirm the names of the two military personnel, nor were they identified in the Tatmadaw statement. U Aung Than Tin said the men are from the Tatmadaw’s No. 550 Light Infantry Battalion.

A resident who declined to be named said Tatmadaw personnel entered Ponnagyun town after the incident and opened fire.

“They [the Tatmadaw] arrived at the area where the incident occurred and opened fire indiscriminately. All people are hiding in their homes,”

Security has since been tightened in the town.

“They blocked road transportation and waterways,” said the anonymous resident, adding that shops in town were shuttered.

The Tatmadaw has accused the assailants of being members of the Arakan Army (AA) or of having ties to the ethnic armed group. The AA has not yet released any statement in connection with the attack.

Arrangements are being made to file a complaint at the Ponnagyun Police Station and rescue the abducted private, the Tatmadaw’s statement said.

DMG phoned Colonel Min Than, the Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs, seeking comment on the incident, but he said he had not been briefed on it.