Unidentified gunmen have abducted 50 men from four villages in Myanmar located outside of Shan state’s largest township of Lashio, Radio Free Asia reported on 30 November.
A woman from Kaungkha, one of the villages targeted, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that residents had fled in terror during the Nov. 26 raid and were unable to determine the identities of the gunmen in the chaos.
Kaungkha was among four villages attacked along the road leading to Namtu, a township located 52 kilometers (32 miles) northwest of Lashio. The road between the two townships has seen frequent clashes between Myanmar’s military and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) in recent weeks.
Other residents said they had compiled a list of around 50 people who had been abducted by the gunmen in the Nov. 26 raids, including some 30 men who were taken from the village of Ei-Naing.