Junta arrests four Buthidaung villagers

By Admin 08 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
8 December 2023, Buthidaung

Junta troops arrested four residents of Ywama (Arakanese) Village in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township at around 4 a.m. on Thursday, according to locals.

The four men, aged between 45 and 60, were arrested at their homes by around 50 junta troops, said family members.

“They were allegedly taken for interrogation. We were not told what they were arrested for,” said a family member of one of the men.

The whereabouts of the detainees remain unknown.

A relative of another detainee said: “We are not yet informed about where they were taken to. They are not young men, and they don’t have any ties with any organisation. So we want them to be released immediately.”

Eight Buthidaung residents were also detained by junta soldiers on November 14. They remain in junta detention.

The regime has stepped up its arrests of local people in Arakan State following renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA). DMG was unable to obtain comment from the junta’s Arakan State security and border affairs minister Colonel Kyaw Thura concerning the arrests of civilians in Arakan State.

Politician U Aung Thaung Shwe said: “It has become routine for the regime to arbitrarily arrest locals. It is not what a government ought to do. The regime is committing war crimes [by arresting civilians]. People must exercise caution at this time.”

According to the Arakan Army, the regime arrested 81 locals between November 13 and December 6. Among them were six children and 14 Muslims.