In Pinlaung Township, Shan State, locals are being forced to contribute money to support junta troops and the junta-aligned Pa-O National Organisation (PNO) ethnic armed organisation (EAO).

According to a source from Pinlaung Township who spoke to the Shan Herald, junta-appointed administrators actively collected money in downtown Pinlaung and nearby village tracts during the first week of June. They gave various different reasons for collecting the money, but in reality he believed it was ultimately going to fund the junta and the PNO.

He said: “This kind of money collection is happening both downtown and in the villages. They collect the money, but they never clearly say where it will be spent. Sometimes they give other excuses. They usually do this once a month or every two months. They’ve already done it about three times now—it just wasn’t talked about much in the past.”

In downtown Pinlaung and nearby village tracts, junta-appointed administrators are collecting 15,000 to 20,000 MMK from each household.

In May, the junta and PNO not only collected money from villages in the Hpayarhpyu and Tikyit village tracts in Pinlaung Township, but also forced communities in the township to prepare and send food packs for their soldiers.

In the first week of June, junta and PNO coalition troops entered Loinwet and Yaepu villages in Nyaungshwe Township, Shan State. This sparked off fighting with local resistance forces, and the junta forces subsequently set fire to several houses.

The PNO is an ethnic armed organization and Its armed wing, the Pa-O National Army (PNA), is a state-sponsored militia aligned with the junta.