Two Myanmar Army soldiers were abducted in northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township on Saturday, in what local residents said was likely a “warning” from the Arakan Army (AA).
The two missing soldiers belonged to a unit based at a train station located near the entrance to the town of Kyauktaw, local sources said.
“One was taken near a guesthouse and the other was picked up at the market. They were staying at the train station,” said a Kyauktaw resident who did not want to be identified.
According to residents, the soldiers were seized by men in plain clothes, believed to be members of the AA. The group is known to be active in the area, they added.
Junta troops arrived in two trucks that afternoon and began looking for the abducted soldiers, according to residents.
“They’re ransacking the whole town. There are 50 to 60 of them with full equipment and weapons,” a local man said, adding that the town’s streets have been deserted since the soldiers arrived.
Another man speculated that the AA took the two soldiers to send a “warning” to the military, noting that they “could have taken more of them if they wanted to.”
“It’s good that it happened. The military has been terrorising the civilians for too long now. This could be a warning from the AA,” he said.
At least 10 uniformed junta soldiers are typically seen patrolling around Kyauktaw.
Neither the AA nor the military have responded to Myanmar Now’s calls regarding the incident.
The soldiers have reportedly been occupying the Kyauktaw railway station for around three months. More than 3,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been staying at the site since fleeing five villages when fighting reignited between the military and AA late last year.
IDPs and others who go near the station are routinely harassed by the soldiers, according to residents.
“We have seen the military threaten to arrest IDPs who pass by the area where the soldiers are stationed. The same thing is happening in other places as well,” another local said.
