Lway Lao Jar, Sep 22, Mong Kung
In villages across Mong Kung Township, southern Shan State, troops of the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) are arresting residents for recruitment and holding the family members of new soldiers who have fled, residents told Shwe Phee Myay.
“The SSPP provides security for many online scam compounds, and many are operating in villages. The locals don’t know what they are; the operators just tell them to say they’re opening a training school. When they relocate, they mostly do it at night,” said a resident.
He also said that when the online scam operators relocate, they have to pay the junta military to pass through their territory.
He added that currently, in some mountain villages in Mong Kung Township, local men are being made to gather at monasteries for new military recruitment.
It is also learned that they are demanding hundreds of thousands of kyat from the parents of young people who are abroad and cannot serve, in exchange for a substitute fee.
“They are conscripting from all the villages in Mong Kung Township. The majority are Ta’ang, while there are very few Shan. The Shan who are there are only officer-level; all the rest are Ta’ang youth. If people go abroad, they also arrest their parents and demand a significant amount of money,” the source added.
It is reported that the SSPP provides security for five online scam compounds, located in two places in Kaphwi village, one below Sonlaw village, one in Longsan village, and one in Hokhae village. Each location is said to have between 500 and 1,000 scam operators.
It is also said that in June, SSPP troops shot and killed 3 locals from Nam Maw Pyin for failing to stop when ordered.
According to another resident, SSPP troops are pressuring locals in Konpaung village to prevent news from being leaked.
It is reported that new recruits are being conscripted from villages including Nam Maw Pyin, Sonlaw, Loi Lam, Nam Lein, Pan Mawn, Pan Name, Loi Roi, Longsan, Konpaung, and other villages as well.
Shwe Phee Myay attempted to contact SSPP spokesperson Major Sai Phone Han for more details on these issues, but received no response.
Translated by #KLT
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