Several Ann residents arrested for alleged AA links

By Admin 08 Jan 2024

DMG Newsroom
8 January 2024, Ann

The regime has reportedly detained at least 10 local people on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army in Arakan State’s Ann Township, where the military’s Western Command headquarters is based.

Junta soldiers arrested the 10 locals transporting cooking oil near 3rd-mile hill in Ann Township on the morning of January 6.

“Around a dozen people were arrested on the way for transporting cooking oil from mainland Myanmar. They were arrested on suspicion of having links with the AA. Their whereabouts remain unknown and they are not allowed to contact family members,” said a resident in Ann.

A local man and a woman from Ward-3 in Ann were taken from their homes by junta soldiers on January 7.

“The regime makes a series of arrests of civilians and doesn’t allow the detainees to meet family members. It is not easy for us to travel from one place to another. The regime considers people as enemies and arrests them,” said a local woman in Ann.

Ma Tin Nilar Aung aka Mee Nge, a 37-year-old woman from Zaytaung Ward in Ann, was arrested for disrupting national stability on December 7, the military council alleges.

The regime has made a series of arrests of civilians in Sittwe since renewed fighting in Arakan State began on November 13.

Some 400 locals in Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Pauktaw, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Ramree, Manaung, Kyaukphyu and Thandwe townships have been arrested by the military regime since renewed fighting in Arakan State began last month, according to a DMG tally.

The vast majority have not yet been formally charged, while some have been prosecuted under Sections 505(a) and (b) of the Penal Code and or Section 17(1) and (2) of the Unlawful Associations Act.