Nearly 50 gold miners arrested by junta yet to be released until a week later

Kyaikto, July (22)

Nearly 50 gold miners and their family members who were arrested by the military council in Mon State’s Kyaikto Township have not been released for a week, locals told Than Lwin Times.

On July 13, a junta force of more than 60 troops raided Ko Aung Naing’s gold mining block in the west of the palm oil plantation in Ingabo village, Kyaikto Township.

Having raided the gold mining block, the military council arrested nearly 50 company employees, including gold mine workers, backhoe operators, and family members.

The gold miners apprehended by the regime forces have been held in the 44^th Division and the Kyaikto Police Station for a week and have not been released.

According to locals, the military council arrested the workers on the grounds that Ko Aung Naing’s gold mining was illegal.

According to people close to the matter, gold mining owner Ko Aung Naing has close ties with some top military leaders, and it is unclear why his gold block was raided.

The regime forces confiscated three bulldozers and one gold mining equipment, and burned the huts where the workers lived during the raid on the gold mining block.

News-Than Lwin Times

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