By Nway / MPA
More than 50 civilians have been taken hostage by a military junta column in the Yae Lel Kyun area of Yesagyo Township, Magway Region, according to local sources.
Around 6:30 a.m. on March 21, junta troops entered Moe Hpyu and Moe Kwe villages. As residents attempted to flee, soldiers opened fire and arrested civilians. According to a statement from the Yesagyo Township Information Committee, over 50 people—including elderly individuals and children—who had been sheltering on an island west of Moe Kwe village were captured.
“This information comes from those who managed to escape the gunfire. We understand that 53 people were taken. The rest were brought inside Moe Kwe village, and we have no further updates on them,” a committee official told MPA.
As of Friday evening, the junta column remains in Moe Kwe village. While the village has not been set on fire, ongoing displacement makes it difficult to verify further details.
It remains unclear which villages the detained civilians are from, and their current conditions are unknown.
The junta column, composed of approximately 200 troops from Pakokku Military Operations Command 101, has been carrying out a campaign of arson, looting, and killings across the Yae Lel Kyun area of Yesagyo Township since March 1.
Over the past 21 days, the troops have reportedly burned several villages, including Myay Sun Taw, Zayat Ni, Malakar Chan, Thar Gaung, Myay Taw, Bisap Kone, Ngatayae, and Pan Nyo (in neighboring Myaung Township). Eighteen civilians from Myay Sun and Thar Gaung villages have also been confirmed killed.
