The regime’s forces threatened the residents of Ah Lae Chaung village looting houses and burning some of them to the ground.

.

About one hundred soldiers arrived by foot and by car on 25 March and searched every house while stealing peoples’ valuables.

“Soldiers in military vehicles shouted to villagers to be quiet,” a resident who wished to remain anonymous told SHAN. They said, “if you are not quiet, look at this gun while pointing at it”.

The man said they broke into people’s homes while they were working in their farms and stole two gold necklaces, about $1,431 and a TV.

The next day, 30 soldiers burned down a house in Nget Thouk also in Ywar Ngan Township.

A woman, who didn’t want to be named, told SHAN, that the soldiers fired five shots and accused a man of supporting the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and burned down his home, she explained. They asked villagers if they had seen the resistance group that’s fighting to overthrow the dictatorship and if they knew about their movements.

Fearing further intimidation from the military, some people have decided to leave Nget Thouk.

The army is patrolling the villages of Ah Lae Chaung, Nge Thouk, Nabang Gyi and Lae Kai and has increased security at the checkpoints to Ywar Ngan town.

According to Data For Myanmar, the regime has burned down 8 houses in Ywar Ngan Township and 135 across Shan State as of 20 March.