Residents worried about Tatmadaw presence in Thandwe Twsp village

By DMG 06 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
6 September 2021, Thandwe

The Myanmar military has been encamping at Pazunpyae village, in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township, for two days, according to the village-tract administrator.

A Myanmar military contingent entered Pazunpyae village on September 4 and is reportedly asking villagers about 10 youths reportedly sought to join the military.

It is not true that the Myanmar army is reportedly asking villagers for about 10 youths to join the military, said U Nyi Gyi aka U Myint Khin, an administrator of Pazunpyae village-tract.

“The Tatmadaw members are stationed in the village. But the news that is circulating on Facebook now that the military is asking for 10 young men is not true,” the administrator said.

Residents in Pazunpyae village as well as nearby villages are worried about the military’s incursion into the village, and locals are worried about reports that 10 young people from Pazunpyae village are being forced to join the army.

The military troops deployed in Pazunpyae village are members of LIR No. 562 from Gwa Township and the soldiers are stationed in the village monastery and clinic, said a villager who did not want to be named for security reasons.

“I guess the military troops consists of about 70 members and around 10 security personnel are stationed at the village clinic. Security members do not conduct checks on villagers. The residents are afraid of being arrested by security personnel. Locals became even more frightened when false rumours went viral online that the Myanmar military was asking 10 villagers to join the army.”

Pazunpyae village is more than 30 miles from Thandwe town and there are more than 160 households in the village.

The village administrator said he did not know why the military was currently occupying the village.

Locals said the Myanmar military also occupied Madaytaung village in Thandwe Township.

Locals say they are worried about a resumption of hostilities between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) due to the Tatmadaw’s reinforcements in Thandwe and other townships in Arakan State, but the military has denied any such reinforcements are a matter of concern.