Five Inle locals were abducted by the Military Council to be exploited as porters , in Nyaungshwe township in Taunggyi district in southern Shan state.

Fighting between The Military Council and the People Defense Forces of southern Shan state has broken out around Phaya A Neee and Than Taung villages on the western side of Inle Lake around 1:00 PM on January 3rd.

Then 5 civilians from Taung Poh Gyi and Inn Tain villages in the western part of Inle region were abducted as porters by the Military Council, and their Pyu-Saw-Htee militia, a 20-year-old man living in Inle told the Shan Herald.

“5 farmers from the west side of (Inle) Lake were arrested by the Military Council. We can’t yet say exactly who they are, but we know they were abducted as porters”, he said.

“ Regime forces are conducting strict inspections in Taung Poh Gyi, Inn Tain and Than Htaung villages west of Inle Lake. Their inspections are stricter than ever. They questioned every pedestrian:where did they came from? And where they were going.? In Inn Tain, they conducted door-to-door searches.The inspections are so harsh that the markets haven’t even opened for 2 days,”  he added.

On December 28th, the Military Council arrested about 20 youths from the Inle region, accusing them of being in contact with the local People Defense Forces (PDF).