Around 100 civilians—most of whom are women, children and the elderly—have been held against their will by the military in a monastery in Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township for nearly a week, according to local sources.
A junta column that was advancing through the township set up a camp in the monastery, located in Sezinkone village on the Mandalay-Htigyaing road, and took the locals hostage on July 26 to deter area resistance forces from attacking their soldiers, an area resident said.
While young people and many adults managed to flee Sezinkone when the junta troops arrived, those left behind, including the elderly and their caretakers—mostly women with children—were left behind and captured.
“The military arrested everyone they saw once they arrived in the village. We’ve heard children crying from the monastery. I don’t think they’re feeding them,” the local man said.
Citing villagers who had managed to escape, he added that the military had torched at least two homes in Sezinkone, which has a population of around 3,500, but there were no confirmed casualties at the time of reporting.
“The military was coming and going to and from the village last week, but this time, they started arresting people. We couldn’t even bring anything when we had to flee,” he recalled.
The military council has not released a statement on the taking of civilian hostages in Thabeikkyin.
A 29-year-old villager was killed and a child was injured after a junta column fired weapons as they passed through Sezinkone on May 27.
The unit currently rampaging through Thabeikkyin is stationed at the No. 13 training base in Twin Nge village and have been carrying out raids in the area since July 25, according to a member of the local anti-junta defence team, who estimated that around 200 soldiers were involved.
“We don’t know why they are keeping that busy. There have been no clashes with revolutionary forces in that area, either. Maybe they are taunting us,” the people’s defence team member said.
Several of these villages, including Sezinkone, are on eastern banks of the Ayeyarwady River, leading resistance groups to speculate that the military is attempting to secure passage of their cargo to elsewhere in Mandalay, and further north to Kachin State.
On the morning of July 28, ships entered Thabeikkyin Township and docked at its port while repairing a vessel damaged in attacks in Madaya and Singu townships, according to members of guerrilla forces.
