The junta troops in civilian clothes came by Pajero car and arrested young men _ who were sitting in a group _ near the Manau Park in Sitapur Ward, Myitkyina town, Kachin State _ at around 4:00 p.m. on January 16, according to local residents.
“Youths were sitting in a group. Some of them ran away and escaped. I couldn’t say exactly the number of junta troops who came to arrest because they were in civilian clothes, but I saw four youths who were handcuffed. I heard they (junta) called the rest of the youth gangs, but I don’t know how many were arrested. They (junta) were arrested on the side of Manau National Park,” a woman from Sitarpu Ward who witnessed the arrest told MPA.
A 26-year-old man from Myoe Thet Gyi Ward said, “Both girls and boys ran in disarray, so they left their motorbikes and phones. They (junta) called porters even during the day, not at night, and I don’t know where they took those.”
It is not yet known for what reason the junta troops arrested the young people in Myitkyina, and MPA continues to investigate the number of youths arrested and detained.
After the junta enforced the conscription law on February 10, there were reports of some young people being arrested frequently in Myitkyina neighborhoods.
“I am worried every day about my children because they are aged enough. I think about what to do. When the junta troops are no longer strong, they feed the people,” said a resident from Aye Mya Tharyar Ward.
The junta troops arrested and took away 3 young men who were renting a barracks on Shwe Road in Tatkone Ward, Myitkyina town, on February 14.