A sign at the entrance to Na Nwin Taw Bo, where 45 people have been arrested since an attack on a nearby gas pipeline facility on February 14 (Supplied)

A total of 45 people have been arrested in the village of Na Nwin Taw Bo since resistance forces attacked a nearby pipeline facility last week 

By Myanmar Now

Regime forces raided the village of Na Nwin Taw Bo in Mandalay Region’s Natogyi Township again on Sunday, less than a week after arresting dozens there in connection with an attack on a Chinese-owned gas pipeline facility.

Twenty people, including a 60-year-old amputee and a woman in her 60s, were arrested during the latest raid, local sources told Myanmar Now.

Soldiers arrived in the village at around 5am and demanded to see residents’ ID cards, which they checked against official lists of household members, the sources said.

They left about four hours later with 16 men and four women in their custody, according to a local woman who did not want to be named.

“They said something like, ‘This village would be better off burned to the ground.’ They also forced everyone to remove their PSI satellite dishes,” she said.

The detainees included Tin Cho, a 60-year-old amputee, and Win May, an elderly woman who had to be accompanied by her daughter because she was in poor health.

Most of those who were taken away were just farmers or local business owners, residents said.

A spokesperson for the Natogyi People’s Defence Force (PDF) also said that none of its members were among those arrested.

According to the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, the group has no immediate plans to carry out another attack on regime forces in the area.

“We all know how cruel and evil the military is. They want us to carry out another attack so they can use more force against us. That’s why we’re not attacking them yet,” he said.

Last Monday, the Natogyi PDF fired makeshift mortar shells at junta personnel guarding an off-take station along the major oil and gas pipelines to China.

A day later, soldiers raided Na Nwin Taw Bo, which is located near the station, arresting 16 men and nine women.

The men are reportedly being held inside a military base in the town of Myingyan, west of Natogyi, while the women have been detained at a police station in the same town.

Sources said that the families of the men have not been allowed to see them, but relatives of the women were permitted to meet with them briefly on Friday.

The junta has not released a statement on the arrests, and regime information officers did not respond to requests for comment.

Burmese version.

Original Post: Myanmar Now