The military council is arresting tourists crossing the Sagaing Bridge, a bridge over the Ayeyarwady River connecting Sagaing and Mandalay. Yesterday, at 10 am, more than 10 military council members in full uniform stopped tourist vehicles at the toll gate on the Sagaing side of the bridge and arrested more than 30 young men in the vehicles. They asked them to take their ID cards, wallets, and clothes and get into their trucks. They couldn’t say anything. They were pointing guns at them and shouting, “If you don’t belong here, don’t come in.” Private cars were also not spared. The military council members checked the ID cards and selected more than 30 men aged between 20 and 30 and arrested them. The men in their 40s were not arrested, which may have been taken for military service.
Similarly, in Mandalay Division, In Mahlaing town, the military blocked the exits of the town and arrested about 100 young people by dragging them. All the young people who were dragged were taken to the Mahlaing Township Office and have not been allowed to meet their families yet.
In the towns and villages, the news of such being dragged is almost unbearable. Since they cannot do anything to react, they have to sit and wait like chickens in a cage, waiting for their turn.
