A school teacher from Rathedaung township has been detained and questioned by the Tadmadaw, residents said.

A Tatmadaw force arrived in Yan Aung Pyin village in the morning and asked the 800 residents to gather together so they could check their family registration lists. They then let the villagers go home at about midday except for Daw Mya Thein Than, a 33-year-old school teacher and her mother on July 23.

“We had a military force in [our village] this morning. We were asked to gather and they checked the family groups and let us go back home by noontime. But they kept Daw Mya Thein Than and haven’t released her yet,” a resident said.  

The teacher was born in Yan Aung Pyin but is working at Naway village’s primary school in Rathedaung Township.

“We had a phone call from troop No 537. They said that they didn’t arrest her but are questioning her,” U Kyaw Mya, an education officer of Rathedaung Township, told DMG.

Yan Aung Pyin village is near the banks of the Mayu River. Three Tatmadaw ships anchored in the river near Pyar Pin Yin village were attacked by the Arakan Army (AA) on July 20. After the attack, the Tatmadaw started investigating Yan Aung Pyin village.

After Tatmadaw ships were shot at by the AA, the Tatmadaw returned fire and more than 4,000 residents from five villages, including Pyar Pin Yin, Zay Kone Tan and Kha Tauk Chaung, fled to other villages for safety.