A combined junta column of over 130 troops—comprising military personnel, police, Pyusawhti militia, and Pa-O National Army (PNA) fighters—is stoking widespread fear across the Inle Lake region in southern Shan State’s Nyaungshwe Township.

Between August 27 and 29, the heavily armed force patrolled lakeside villages conducting security sweeps before entrenching itself in Kyartun Village.

“When they arrived, they fired warning shots into the air, searched the homes of conscription-age youths, and meticulously logged the names of students,” said a resident of nearby Heya Ywama Village.

The column first entered Thapyaypin Village on August 27, interrogating local elders before arresting 40-year-old U Tun Oo the following day over alleged ties to the People’s Defence Force (PDF). He was subsequently transferred to an interrogation center in Taunggyi.

On August 29, the troops advanced along the western lake road toward Inntein Village, occupying a monastery near the foothills.

“Soldiers claim they are hunting roughly 30 infiltrated PDF members, but they are simultaneously checking conscription lists. It’s clearly an intimidation tactic to cut off any local support for the resistance,” a local youth said.

Anxiety has intensified on the eastern side of the lake following reports that the column plans to expand its patrols eastward.

These operations run parallel to recent arbitrary detentions, including the August 25 arrest of Maung Pyei Sone from Kyanpontnge Village, who remains out of contact.

Amid the crackdown, the regime has announced upcoming local ceremonies celebrating purported PDF surrenders, alongside plans to award 100 million MMK (more than US$ 250,000)  each to two Pyusawhti leaders.