New Delhi - Over a dozen youth members of the opposition were arrested by Burmese police on Tuesday, a party spokesperson told Mizzima.

At least 15 members of the National League for Democracy, Burma's main opposition party, on Tuesday were rounded up and shoved into police trucks when they were marching towards detained pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's residence in Rangoon's University Avenue.

"They were herded into a Dyna light truck by the police and whisked away," said Nyan Win. However, it was not immediately known where the young activists were taken.

The arrest came even as the NLD observed the 18th anniversary of the 1990 general elections, in which the party registered an unheralded landslide victory.

Nyan Win said security has been beefed-up in and around the party's headquarters in Rangoon's west Shwegondine in Bahan township, where several party members had gathered for an anniversary function.

While the reason behind the youth activists marching towards the party leader's home is still unclear, it coincides with the Burmese military rulers deadline to decide whether or not to extend the house arrest period of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 12 of the past 18 years, mostly under house arrest. And her latest incarceration was in May 2003, after junta-backed thugs attacked her motorcade during a political tour in central Burma's Depeyin town.

Advocacy groups said the house arrest period of Aung San Suu Kyi cannot be extended as the Burmese law does not permit it. According to Burma's existing law, a person cannot be detained for more than five years on grounds that the person is a threat to national security and peace in the country.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on May 25 completed five years of continuous detention.