Poe War — The Myanmar army has reportedly arrested approximately 70 residents, including 40 Muslim men, during a series of violent raids in Sittwe, Rakhine State.

Sources indicate that those unable to pay for their release are being forcibly conscripted and sent to the front lines.

The arrests took place around 11:00 PM on April 27. According to local residents, a joint task force consisting of police, the military, and the immigration department targeted the neighborhoods of Baukthidsu, Kyauk Taek Lan, Lanmadaw Taung Ward, and Hari Muslim Village.

"They arrived under the guise of checking guest lists and began making arrests," a neighborhood administrator told Narinjara on the condition of anonymity.

"The military has been conducting vigorous searches for several days. We know families are now petitioning for their release."

The group of detainees includes 40 Muslim men from Harisha and roughly 30 Rakhine men from the Bawkthi Su, Kyaung Taek Lan, and Lanmadaw Taung areas.

They were arrested without charge and remain in custody.

On the night of April 24, approximately 20 members of the military junta entered the Mani Ratana Monastery in Sittwe’s Ywagyi Taung neighborhood to conduct a guest-list check. During the raid, they arrested a 40-year-old woman in charge of the monastery.

The junta has forcibly relocated residents from over 20 villages outside Sittwe into city monasteries, where they use frequent guest-list inspections to monitor and arrest both locals and displaced people.