Junta-SNA Coalition Seals Off a Village in Kachin State, Detains and Beats Children

SNA troops operating in Mogaung and Monghnyin townships. (File photo)

Joint Myanmar junta and allied Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) forces have sealed off a village in Kachin State’s Mogaung Township for nearly a month, trapping residents, barring farmers from harvesting crops, and assaulting children, local sources said.

Troops blocked all entry and exit routes around Hteechaint, a village of about 150 households in the Sarhmaw village tract.

The blockade prevents villagers from harvesting crops and forces residents to sign registers under interrogation.

Human rights abuses have escalated during the siege. On October 11, joint forces detained and beat a 14-year-old boy herding cattle outside Hteechaint.

Troops accused the teenager of contacting the People's Defence Force (PDF) before holding him at the village monastery, which the military converted into an operational base.

The following day, soldiers fatally beat a man in neighboring Kahnyinmyaing village after accusing him of drug use.

"People in Hteechaint cannot harvest their rice or earn a living," a Sarhmaw resident said. "Troops hunt down and arrest anyone who attempts to leave."

Joint military operations stepped up in early September as Infantry Battalion 105 and Light Infantry Battalions 383 and 384 attempt to break through Kachin Independence Army (KIA) resistance lines along the Namyin Stream.