Myanmar junta seals off buildings in recaptured town of Nawnghkio

Myanmar’s military has been sealing off buildings in Nawnghkio and nearby villages since recapturing the town in northern Shan State last month, according to residents. Dozens of homes, businesses, and religious structures have been shuttered over their owners’ suspected links to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and other anti-regime groups since junta troops retook the town on July 16, sources there said. “First they closed the mosque and placed an official seal on it. Then they sealed the Gurkha religious group’s guest house, along with shops on the ground floor,” a resident told Myanmar Now. “The mosque was shut down on the pretext that renovation work had been done without official permission,” he added. Soldiers have also occupied a recently built four-storey building afters its owner, a gold merchant, was accused of having ties to the People’s Defence Force (PDF), according to another resident. “The Aung Kyaw Soe gold shop was sealed off after someone lodged a complaint with the junta alleging links to the PDF,” the resident said, adding that several fuel shops had also been closed. There have also been reports of at least 20 people being detained for cooperating with the TNLA, which captured Nawnghkio in July of last year. Residents said that junta informants had helped to identify those who had been arrested. Since reoccupying Nawnghkio, junta forces have also taken control of Thone Se and Ho Hko, two villages located west of the town on the road to Mogok, A resident of Ho Hko said that a number businesses there and in Thone Se had also been shuttered by the regime, “These are large shops—four to five long-established grocery and dry goods stores—that have now been sealed off,” the Ho Hko villager said. Junta-affiliated media has also reported on the closure of buildings in Nawnghkio by a team of general administrative staff, firefighters, police, and soldiers. The regime’s mouthpieces have also claimed that electricity has been restored in the town and that its schools and hospitals are now fully operational. However, residents said the actual situation was still far from normal. “Even government offices still lack a full power supply. Only around 30 percent of residents have returned, and no one knows what will happen next,” said one Nawnghkio resident. Major intersections and other key areas in the town are also under constant surveillance, he added. Apart from when students are going to school in the morning and returning in the early afternoon, there is very little activity in the streets, he said. According to data compiled by Myanmar Now, the regime carried out at least 20 airstrikes on Nawnghkio between September 2024 and July 7 of this year, killing a total of 77 civilians, including children, monks, and prisoners of war. Another 112 were injured.

Myanmar junta seals off buildings in recaptured town of Nawnghkio

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