MANDALAY, Myanmar - According to local sources, Junta soldiers kidnapped over 60 civilians from a village in Mandalay Region's Myingyan Township this week, accusing them of supporting resistance groups and stealing their valuables.

Residents of Ma Gyi Su village said a column of about 20 soldiers arrived on Wednesday afternoon, set fire to a house on the village's south side, and began raiding homes one by one. They eventually kidnapped more than 60 people and told the rest of the villagers to gather at the village monastery.

According to one Ma Gyi Su resident, the raid was unexpected because there was no fighting in the area then.

"There are no ongoing battles in the village." "They accused each household in this village of sending 300,000 kyats per month to People's Defence Force groups," said the villager.

"The villagers here said they could barely make a living, let alone donate huge sums to the resistance forces, but the military personnel just started beating and interrogating them," he continued.

Another villager claimed that many apprehended, including women, children, and older people, were beaten. The soldiers brutally beat most young adult men, leaving them bleeding head wounds.

"There's also one household where they threatened to take a woman to an interrogation center if she didn't give them her earrings and showed her their bullets." "She didn't have a choice but to hand them over," he explained.

According to the same villager, the soldiers eventually left, taking about 30 adults to use as human shields and releasing them after arriving at Ywar village, about two miles to the north.