Kantarawaddy Times
The military junta has ordered residents who recently returned to Mobye town on the Shan-Karenni border to take turns standing guard, according to returnees and local sources. They said the junta provides only one gun for every three people assigned to the duty.
The junta has selected men around 30 to 40 years old who can handle firearms and assigned them to posts by location, said a man close to Mobye returnees.
“Some are assigned to guard near Lehti Monastery, while others are posted near the pagoda in Myoma. Only men, usually between 30 and 40 years old and considered able to use a firearm, are selected. The duty is carried out in rotation, with one gun shared among three people,” he said.
Heavy fighting in Mobye forced many residents to flee. Some have returned to the town since March 2026, and the junta has since begun assigning guard duties to them.
In some cases, the junta is reportedly selecting only people who have families and threatening them into guard duty, out of fear that guards might flee with the guns.
Returnees are also not allowed to live freely in their own homes. Instead, they must live together in monasteries, the same source said. When they leave town to buy supplies, the military drives them to Pehkon, and they must return to a designated gathering point after shopping.
The junta no longer lets returnees leave the town and allows them to travel only to designated places, according to the reports. At least five people who went back to check on their homes from the designated gathering point have stepped on landmines.
