Junta troops have taken up positions in key areas of Myawaddy Town in Karen State and are carrying out targeted abductions of young men in the town's wards at night.
Since September 8, junta troops have been deployed in key areas of the town. Beginning the following day, in collaboration with their allied Pyusawhti militia, they have been conducting night raids, primarily targeting squatter areas, and abducting young and middle-aged men.
“The abductions started on the night of September 9. Soldiers, Pyusawhti members, ward administrators, and 100-house-group elders were involved in these forced arrests. Around 20 people were taken over three days. Families tried everything to get them released, such as filing missing person reports with the police and making inquiries through the junta-aligned Border Guard Force, but nothing worked. The authorities just kept denying they knew where the detainees had been taken,” said a resident of Wahtaw Ward in Myawaddy Town who is familiar with the situation.
Currently, youths are being abducted in Myawaddy Town, particularly in wards such as Kyuntaw, Thaepone Gate, Thayatpintaw, Kyaukphya, Hpachaukkaung, Kyankhinkyuntaw, and Wahtaw, according to residents.
In addition, the junta has also been targeting migrant youths and middle-aged men who came from other parts of the country and are currently living in squatter conditions in wards such as Hay Man Oo, Aung Myay Shwe Bon, Shwe Mya Sandy, and Myaynikone.
“The situation got worse after soldiers were deployed in the town. Ward administrators and soldiers, together with Pyusawhti leaders, abducted people and forcing them to undergo military training with the BGF before sending them to the battlefield. In the past, it was sometimes possible to negotiate their release by paying at least 5 million MMK or by finding a substitute for those who were being drafted,” said a woman from Kyuntaw Ward.
Currently, junta soldiers stationed in Myawaddy Town, together with allied Karen armed groups, are putting on a show of volunteering, cleaning the town every Saturday and distributing food to internally displaced people (IDPs), according to town residents.
photo credit - social media
