Myanmar army soldiers reportedly began burning rafts and makeshift tents of gold raft panners around Tha Phan Seik Dam in Kyunhla Township, Sagaing Region, on 24 May.
The rafters in the area reported that junta troops advanced from Kyunhla town to Tha Phan Seik Dam and burned down the rafts and tents.
“There was no fighting at that time. They set fire to the rafts and arrested the people. We had to return home by raft because the situation was not good. The next day they burned the rafts. We can’t go down to the gold block anymore,” said a local gold entrepreneur.
Due to the junta column’s incursion into the area, the raft panners had to flee to safety, leaving a guard for the rafts and related equipment.
The gold entrepreneur went on to say that the military council burned the gold blocks for allegedly supporting the local resistance forces.
“There is no one left, only a guard. We put away all the rafts and equipment, and one of two people is guarding the huts. They torched them because we allegedly supported the DPF,” he said.
After the incident, the military council reported that it burned 33 gold panning rafts, 33 six-cylinder engines, 990 gallons of diesel, more than 4950 empty barrels, and confiscated other rafting equipment.
Sent by Shanni Voice.