Junta raids monasteries, arrests monks as airstrikes kill clergy across Myanmar

Myanmar military soldiers raided a monastery in central Myanmar’s Mandalay Region on Thursday and arrested three elderly men, including a 62-year-old monk displaced by the war, accusing them of belonging to the People’s Defense Force (PDF), local residents said. Early Thursday, junta troops in military and civilian vehicles raided Eiksathaya Monastery in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township and arrested three men. The detainees—monk U Nandawbhasa, 62, Nyunt Hlaing, 60, and Aung Kyaw Min, 45—were war displaced from Magway Region’s Yesagyo Township. A local resident told Myanmar Now that the men’s age and condition made resistance ties unlikely, calling the arrests arbitrary. "Could people of this age be PDF? They're at an age where they would be unsteady even walking by themselves,” he said. “And there's even a monk among them. I see this as pure harassment and arrest.” U Nandawbhasa was arrested in civilian clothes, and the three were being interrogated at the junta’s Central Command in Mandalay Palace, though details were unclear. The Yesagyo Township People’s Administration Organization told Myanmar Now the men were civilians, not members, and said it would contact their village.Wai Yan Naing of the township’s People’s Defense Organization also said they were likely displaced civilians. "They're definitely not our PDF members,” Wai Yan Naing said. “They might have ended up in Mandalay while fleeing the war for various reasons. We'll let you know when we learn all the details.” Since seizing power in February 2021, Myanmar’s junta has targeted even monks, shooting, beating, and arresting them during protests, then sending them to interrogation centers for torture. Many have also died in airstrikes. On Thursday, a junta warplane bombed Shwe Zedi Monastery in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, killing a 60-year-old monk and wounding a woman working in nearby fields.Myingyan residents told Myanmar Now the monastery was not sheltering PDF members and no fighting was nearby, saying the junta deliberately targeted it. An image of U Thawbita, a famous Burmese monk, photographed in 2018. (Photo: Supplied) The ultranationalist Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, or Ma Ba Tha, has remained silent on the junta’s arrests and killings of monks. Armed resistance has spread nationwide since the coup, as the junta unleashed brutal force even on peaceful protesters. By January 2021, junta chief Min AungHlaing admitted they had lost control of nearly half the country’s townships.Since 2023, the junta has turned increasingly to air power against resistance forces it cannot defeat on the ground, carrying out airstrikes, missile strikes, and strafing runs that have killed growing numbers of civilians, including children. Junta airstrikes increasingly hit schools and monasteries in resistance-held areas, killing growing numbers of monks and children. On September 15, junta warplanes bombed three monasteries east of Madaya, killing a monk, a 30-year-old woman named Nge, and a man identified as Maung Lay, all displaced civilians. A nun, a young novice, and another man were seriously wounded. Between August 23 and 25, consecutive airstrikes in northern Shan and Mon states, and Mandalay Region killed eight more people, including monks and children. U Thawbita, also known as Alinka Kyal, a well-known Mandalay monk, was arrested on February 1, 2021, the day of the coup. He was scheduled for release in June 2024 but remains missing. He had been charged by the junta since 2018 before the coup for criticising the military, and most people believe that he was re-arrested by the junta after his release from prison, and are concerned for his safety. As the junta’s violence devastates communities nationwide, some monks have left monastic life to join the armed resistance, saying moral appeals can no longer sway the generals. At the same time, figures such as U Wasawa, known as the 550 Sayadaw, and Pauk Ko Taw have sided with the military, leading junta-backed militias against resistance fighters.

Junta raids monasteries, arrests monks as airstrikes kill clergy across Myanmar

Soldiers in Mandalay detained three displaced men, including a 62-year-old monk, accusing them of PDF ties despite local denials

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