Military conducting patrols in Aukdo, attempting to persuade locals to trust them

AYEYARWADDY TIMES (Aukdo), July 4 The military, after conducting patrols and arson attacks in Aukdo Township, Bago Region (West), and then withdrawing, has reportedly returned to conduct further patrols and persuasion campaigns, inciting discord between locals and resistance forces. Military columns under the interim government had previously patrolled and set fire to villages in the eastern part of Aukdo Township in May and June, forcibly seizing residents' belongings before withdrawing. They have now re-entered villages that they had not yet destroyed and are conducting persuasion campaigns. "They are trying to appease and persuade the people. They are telling the people not to be afraid of them (the military), saying that they only attack the PDF. They are telling the people to just do their own work. They say they won't do anything to the people. When people are killed by them, they make it look like the PDF did it, and they spread rumors related to the PDF," a local from Aukdo told the Ayeyarwaddy Times. In June, a local from Reta village was arrested by the military, accused of having ties to resistance forces. Although he was released as he was an ordinary citizen, he had been tortured and his entire body was covered in knife wounds, and he has since been sent to the hospital. Furthermore, in the second week of June, the military set fire to Tanpengon village, where they had clashed with resistance forces, and planned to incite conflict with the locals, according to resistance force members. Since May, during the military's patrols in Aukdo Township, seven local residents have been killed, and hundreds of homes in Chaunggaw village, Zito village, Tanpengon village, and Kyunhlagone village have been burned down. Locals are reportedly still displaced and living as refugees. Photo – Social Media