Families unable to contact detained Maungdaw men

By Admin 30 May 2024

DMG Newsroom
30 May 2024, Maungdaw

Family members say they have not been in contact with three civilians from Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township since their arrest by the Myanmar military three days ago.

Ko Myint Naing Htoo, Ko Tun Win and another man were arrested on Monday. Junta soldiers and military-trained armed Muslim men arrived in Maungdaw’s Ward-3 at around 6 a.m. on May 27 and detained more than 70 Arakanese and Hindu people without providing a reason. Nearly all of the arrestees were released on the same day, but three men remain detained.

“We are unable to contact the three men and their whereabouts remain unknown. Family members are worried about their safety,” said a resident of Wimala Village.

The junta mouth-piece Rakhine Daily reported on May 28 that 750,000 stimulant tablets worth K1.5 billion were seized from a home belonging to Ko Myint Htoo Naing.

Ko Myint Htoo Naing earns a living as a merchant, however, and the allegations reported about him are baseless, locals said.

“The regime, which faces defeat militarily in Arakan State, arbitrarily arrests local people on suspicion,” said a local man in Maungdaw.

Ko Ye Min Oo and Ko Oo Ye Min, healthcare workers from Maungdaw Hospital, were arrested near the clock tower in downtown Maungdaw on May 15 and the pair have not yet been released.

Relatively few people remain in downtown Maungdaw as thousands of locals have fled to safer locations including areas controlled by the Arakkha Army (AA) as the possibility of fighting in Maungdaw has increased following the ethnic armed group’s seizure of Buthidaung.

“The junta troops take positions at downtown locations and detain the trapped people. Dozens of people trapped by the junta blockades will go hungry in the long run,” said a community elder in Maungdaw.

The AA has seized the Border Guard Police Battalion No. 1 headquarters in Kyee Kan Pyin, Border Guard Police Battalion No. 7 in Kyein Chaung, and Border Guard Police Battalion No. 10 in Hla Poe Kaung. It has also stepped up attacks on Border Guard Police Battalion Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 9.

Myanmar’s military regime arrested 425 civilians in the six months from November 13 to May 13, the United League of Arakan/Arakkha Army (ULA/AA) said in a press release on May 28.