The TNLA denied the accusation that there was a violation of the local people's rights when the TNLA went to rescue the Ta'ang ethnic groups who were forcibly captured and taken to serve in the Jaryan militia under the Military Council.
On February 4, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) announced that 127 Ta'ang nationals who were forcibly abducted for military service and undergoing military training at Jaryan militia in Jaryan village, Hokho village-tract of Lashio Township, Northern Shan State, were rescued on February 4.
PSLF/TNLA spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Tar Pan Hla said, "We rescued 127 Ta'ang people. Among them, 20 school-age children. 15 young women and 92 other age groups. When we went in, there were no human shields. The people are not taken. We went and rescued them with our military force."
Locals said that when the TNLA arrived at the Jaryan militia camp, they took the Ta'ang ethnic groups separately and took away some of the motorcycles and valuables that were there.
Regarding the case, a local resident said, "That morning, the Palaungs and Kokangs came mixed together, and there, they dragged the villagers to the Jaryan militia and picked out all those who belonged to the Palaungs."
It is said that to enter the Jaryan militia camp under the Military Council, the TNLA tied up civilians and took them as human shields.
A person close to the Jaryan militia said, "At around 6 o'clock in the morning, they took all the villagers from the Jaryan market as hostages and dragged them to the camp. KDA officers ordered the shooting. But they didn't shoot. There are too many hostages, so they can't shoot.”
The TNLA Brigade 7 raided the militia camp on February 4 after family members complained to the TNLA that the Jayan militia had been recruiting local Ta'ang people.
Lieutenant Colonel Tar Pan Hla added that there were aerial attacks by the Military Council when they were rescued.
"When we entered the camp, there were tensions between the two sides, but there were no major battles. But after the evacuation, the Military Council fired with a warplane. They also attack the community. They came three times with a warplane and fired," he said.
According to officials from some civil society organizations in northern Shan State, it is difficult to tell the truth about the dispute between the Kachin and Ta'ang ethnic groups, who are indigenous to the PSLF/TNLA raids in the Jayan militia.
Regarding the incident, a man believed to be a KDA soldier also posted a video file on a social networking site showing a group of armed men entering a village with some people dressed in civilian clothes.
However, Network Media Group news agency could not independently confirm that video file.
The Jaryan militia is a militia group under the Kachin National Development and Security Army (KDA) led by U Mahtu Naw, who split from Brigade 4 of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in 1991.
