Army troops have arrested seven people who were using the internet at a tea shop in Myanmar’s northernmost Kachin state, as the army tightens a curfew in a township with a strong presence of ethnic militias.
About 20 soldiers entered the shop on Tuesday night and started beating the owner, his wife and daughter, and four people who were having tea there. All seven were detained, according to a resident of the town of Hpakant who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals.
“The store was about to close when the troops arrived in a car and arrested them,” said the local. “Someone told them the daughter was sharing political posts on Facebook.”
The local said that the family that owned the Shu Daung Thit tea shop was Soe Naing; his wife Nan Kyin; and his daughter Shoon Lae Soe. The four clients have not been identified.
He told RFA that the family had been selling tea in Hpakant for almost 30 years, describing them as honest people. He said that he did not know where the troops had taken them.
The raid is believed to have been sparked by clashes between junta troops and joint Kachin Independence Army forces, which broke out the previous morning near a police station in Hpakant.
Locals said a 40-year-old woman named Khin Ma and her 10-year-old daughter, Moe Pwint Phyu, were hit by bullets during the battle, though it is unclear which side fired them.
“The injuries to the mother and daughter are not serious,” said a woman who also declined to be named.
“It would be better if they were treated at Myitkyina (municipality) hospital, but they had to go to Hpakant hospital because they were afraid of fighting on the way.”
The local said the junta had been firing heavy artillery at the town of Hpakant in recent weeks and arresting many civilians.
Hpakant is a center of gold and jade production in Myanmar and home to many businessmen, traders and miners. It has also attracted many Chinese investors who are believed to pay “taxes” to ethnic Kachin militias to operate the mines safely.
The junta issued a curfew in the city of Hpakant shortly after it carried out a coup in February 2021 and began to strictly enforce it this year. RFA data shows that troops arrested almost 200 civilians in the city and nearby towns this month and are still holding 40 of them.
RFA called Win Ye Tun, the spokesman for the Kachin state board, seeking comment on the arrest, but no one answered.
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