NAYPYITAW, 02 November 2021, (TON): Local resistance fighters said that Junta soldiers abducted 19 people from a village in southern Shan State, blindfolding them before leading them away to be used as human shields.

A  spokesperson for the Pekhon chapter of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) said “the residents were taken from the village of Kathea.”

Many of Kathea’s 450 residents fled the village two days earlier after junta shells exploded at a drug rehabilitation clinic where people were sheltering during a clash between the military and a coalition of fighters from the PDF and the Karenni National Defence Force (KNDF). 

More than 300 Kathea villagers are now taking shelter to the west in Kawnghwet village and the surrounding area and are in need of aid.

The Pekhon PDF spokesperson said “those who were taken included elderly people who had stayed behind to take care of the village. Soldiers took eight villagers at around 3pm and then arrived a few hours later to take the other 11.”

He said “we still do not know where they were taken.” he said.

“The military is also breaking into houses in the village.” His group is trying to find out the identities of all the people who were taken, he added.