NAYPYITAW, 12 October 2021, (TON): Locals said that Junta forces have arrested three 15-year-olds in Sagaing Region after being unable to find the people they wanted to arrest during raids targeting National League for Democracy (NLD) members.

The children were among 13 civilians detained in the town of Htigyaing, just days after two abandoned police outposts in the area were burned down by fighters from the People’s Defence Force (PDF).

A source close to the NLD said “two of the teenagers were arrested in the town’s 4th ward while playing video games after junta forces raided the house of an NLD supporter who goes by the name of Phoe Thae and were unable to find him.”

He said “on the same day, the wife and 15-year-old daughter of Hpone Kyaw, another NLD supporter in 1st ward, were taken into custody when he could not be found during a raid on his house, the source added. Of those arrested on both days, five were female and eight were male.

The detainees were taken to the Htigyaing Township police station for interrogation, according to locals, who did not know the names of the children who were detained.

A Htigyaing resident said “they searched the whole town.”

“They especially targeted the NLD members and accused them of having connections to the PDF.”

On Wednesday, soldiers raided the house of an ousted NLD lawmaker named Maung Maung in Kanni village, which lies within the township of Htigyaing. They also raided the house of his mother and the house and grocery store of his sister in the village of Tonelone.