
Soldiers detained nine volunteer neighbourhood guards during an attack on the village of Zay Haung in Mandalay Region on Friday evening, a resident told Myanmar Now.
About 30 troops burned down barricades at the entrance of the village before abducting the men, said the resident, who is a relative of one of the detainees.
“We heard they came because someone informed them there were rebels in the village,” she said. “They’re now shooting inside the village and we’re all hiding.”
Since the February 1 coup there have been repeated protests against the military regime in Zay Haung, which is about 18 miles from the town of Madaya.
The detained men are: Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Swar Min, both 29; Nyein Htet, Zaw Myo Aung, Zaw Moe Lwin and Tun Zaw, who are all in their 30s; Tun Oo and U Toe, who are both 40, and 50-year-old Soe Hlaing.
Soldiers have now taken up positions at the entrance to the village to question locals as they come and go. They also patrolled the nearby villages of Zay Thit and Than Kone.
The nine men are being held at the Swal Taw Kyi police station five miles from Zay Haung. Family members went to the station to try to have them released, locals said.
Volunteer guards have frequently been targeted by the junta since it seized power. On February 20, Tin Htut Hein was shot in the head during a confrontation with regime forces while he was on watch duty in Yangon’s Shwe Pyi Thar township.
On Monday about 20 soldiers arrived in three military trucks in Natogyi township in Mandalay and began burning down barricades that residents had set up to defend themselves.