Tatmadaw troops enter Thameehla village

08 Aug 2019

Aung Htain | DMG

8 August, Sittwe

An army of 150 troops entered Thameehla village in Rathedaung Township on the evening of 7 August, villagers said.

The Tatmadaw troops moved into the village shooting guns that scared local residents and they fled from their homes, said a villager who fled from their home and on the condition of anonymity.

 “They came from the river. They shot guns as they were marching. When they entered our village we fled in panic. We are afraid of being hit by bullets. And we are also worried that they will detain and question us,” he said.

There was a funeral for a woman who died on 7 August. Family members were scheduled to hold the funeral on 8 August, but nobody attended the funeral service because all villagers fled from their homes. 

“The dead body is still in the village. There are a few people to watch over the body. They said that the military troops came and sympathetically said not to worry,” said another villager who asked not to be named.

He added that the military troops have now been positioned in the village and seized mobile phones from women who are taking shelter in the village monastery.

 “My daughter is taking refuge in the village monastery. She told me not to call her again because soldiers seized phones from them. When I called again a message said that the phone’s power was off. We could not contact to people from the village. We do not know what is happening in the village now and that’s troublesome,” he said.

Thameehla village has 103 houses with over 600 people. Currently, men fled from the village while women and elders have been taking shelter in the village monastery when the military troops entered the village.

Three helicopters and three boats transported soldiers to the village. The DMG phoned Colonel Win Zaw Oo, head of the Western Command, for comment about the village, but he was not available.

An armed confrontation between the Tatmadaw and the AA broke out near Thameehla village on 26 January, a seven-year-old boy was killed from pieces of shrapnel.