The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is accused of detaining two journalists in the jade-mining hub of Hpakant Township, located around 94 miles (151 km) northwest of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, on Sept. 29.
“We have not heard about the arrest as of yet,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB.
Tar Lynn Maung, who reports for the Red News Agency, and Naung Yo, a freelance reporter, were both arrested. Their current whereabouts remain unknown, according to locals.
“A KIA soldier asked a People’s Defense Force member to meet Ko [Tar Lynn Maung] at a restaurant. Since Ko Tar knew the PDF member, he trusted him and went to the restaurant. He was unable to be contacted after that,” a source close to the reporter in Hpakant told DVB.
Naung Yo was arrested shortly afterwards on the same day while investigating Tar Lynn Maung’s arrest. The reason for their detention is unclear. But locals speculate that Tar Lynn Maung was detained for a social media post critical of the KIA.
On Sept. 23, 2023, Tar Lynn Maung was not seriously injured when a car operated by members of a local armed group reportedly rammed into his while driving through a village of Hpakant Township.
After the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup, Tar Lynn Maung left his job at the Ministry of Information and Communications to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), and an anti-coup protest group in Kachin State.
In late-2022, Nyaung Yo was released from prison after serving a one-year-and-seven-month sentence for covering the 2021 anti-coup protests.
