Regime forces took four small children and over a dozen local adults hostage while raiding a village on the way back to their base in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday morning.
In the early morning on Tuesday, the column of junta troops entered Wet Let Ywei village, located some four miles southeast of Wetlet and a mile east of the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway, taking two infants, two toddlers, six women and seven men captive.
The junta soldiers kept the hostages with them as they proceeded south to their base in the village of Thar Laing, Wetlet Township, releasing them when they arrived.
“They were captured at around 4am and were let go around noon,” a spokesperson for the Wetlet Township People’s Defence Group said.
Six of the adult hostages were in their 30s, and six were in their 60s, and another was of middle age.
“They were caught without warning and didn’t have the chance to run, as it was very early in the morning. They even took the babies hostage,” a Wet Let Ywei resident said.
Although the soldiers did not harm the children, they shouted at the adults and subjected them to questioning, he added.
The regime deployed hundreds of troops to Wetlet Township starting in August of this year, intending to strengthen security in the area as the junta moved to repair and reopen the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway line for travel. A number of the soldiers are currently stationed in Thar Laing and nearby villages.
Locals found the decomposing bodies of five civilians and anti-junta resistance members in Thone Sint Kan village in September after troops had stationed there for around 20 days. The same column of junta troops had also reportedly killed another five people in August in Kyun U Taw village, Sagaing Township, also located near the railway some eight miles to the south.
A large team of workers is currently staying outside a station near Thar Laing to repair damages to the railway made by resistance groups, with some 140 junta troops of Light Infantry Battalion 364 stationed in nearby villages for security.
The massive deployment of troops to the area since August has already displaced thousands of local residents, who are aware that the soldiers commonly use civilians as human shields and routinely flee approaching regime forces.
