At least 6 residents of
Thandwe, a district town of Rakhine State, have been arrested by the junta
authorities in the last two days, said a local resident.
On the night of 14 November, the Htoo Kay café owner
and two other men were arrested, while the electricity was out or order in the
locality.
"Names of the café owner and two others are yet
to be known. The soldiers arrived at the location, when there was no
electricity, and finally picked them up. It
is not known which army battalion was engaged with the incident,” he added.
It was the second arrest as the soldiers
had already picked up three others (employee of the bartender, GTI school
teacher and custodian from the city middle school) the same day.
“ I think the
arrest was related to their suspected links with the Arakan Army (AA),” the
resident stated.
They are currently being held in the LIB 55 army
battalion based in Thandwe, informed a local social worker.
“How can the soldiers
prove that they were associated with the AA. The Burmese army can not fight
against AA members, but terrorist the civilians. The unarmed ordinary people
are suffering from the army atrocities. The soldiers don't dare to leave their
camp to fight against the AA members, but continue abusing the civilians. It's disgusting," he added.
Narinjara News is trying to get in touch with the
affected family members.
Earlier, 11 businessmen from
Taungup locality were arrested by the military authorities.
Four residents of Kyauk Phyu including U Than Hlaing
(administrator of Zaydi Daung) were arrested on the suspicion of maintaining
links with the AA.
Some arrests are also
reported from the Rakhine capital city of Sittwe.
Political observers believe that the soldiers, who are
facing defeat in the gun fighting against the ethnic armed groups in northern
Rakhine, are terrorising the civilians because of their increasing frustration.