Residents began fleeing the town of Banmauk, Sagaing Region this week after a junta-allied armed group ordered that the residents of each ward provide them a quota of new enlistees, locals said.
Officers of the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) reached an agreement with Banmauk’s ward administrators on Monday to conscript new members for combat and security service in the SNA, and began compiling household member registration lists for this purpose, according to Banmauk residents.
On the same day, the SNA began seeking recruits in Banmauk, taking 30 men between the ages of 18 and 40 from Hlwa Sin Kone Ward, according to a local man with close ties to resistance forces active in the area.
“People from the other wards had time to escape, so they all fled. Many people ran away,” the man said.
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