Fourteen people, including one teenager, were arrested on Monday following a raid on a village in Saging Region’s Kani Township, according to local sources.
The raid was carried out at Thaminchan village by around 70 soldiers shortly after 5am, the sources told Myanmar Now.
“They thought there would be weapons. They beat the men and then arrested them,” said a Kani resident who asked not to be identified by name.
All of those arrested showed signs of injury, he added.
“Their faces were swollen and badly bruised. The soldiers beat every one of them. One was in terrible condition. They were tied together by the hands in twos and threes and put on a truck,” he said.
Most of the arrested men were in their 30s, but one was in his 60s and three were in their 50s. A 10th-grade student believed to be around 15 was also among those taken into custody, according to Kani locals.
All 14 are currently being held at a police station in Monywa, they added.
The Monywa police station and the military spokesperson could not be reached for comment when contacted by Myanmar Now on Monday.
Locals in Yinmarbin and Kani townships have been fiercely resisting military rule, blocking roads and fighting back against junta crackdowns using homemade hunting rifles known as Tumi guns.
Late last week, the military’s troops and residents of villages along the Chindwin River and on the Kalaywa-Yargyi-Monywa road clashed for two days.
There have been at least five major clashes between soldiers and locals from Kani Township since early April, killing 16 civilians and injuring 50. Thirty locals have also gone missing, according to a member of the Kani Strike Committee.
The military has also suffered casualties, but Myanmar Now has been unable to ascertain the exact figures.
Tens of thousands of residents from villages in southern Sagaing Region’s Yinmarbin and Kani townships have fled their homes since early April due to the junta’s brutal crackdowns.
