In Kachin State civilians are being assaulted and arrested by junta soldiers stationed at the Bala Min Htin Bridge that connects Myitkina City in Myitkyina Township to Maingnar Town in Waingmaw Township.
Talking of recent junta arrests at the Bala Min Htin Bridge that crosses the Ayeyarwady River, a Myitkyina City resident said: “There have already been three arrests at the bridge in the past few days, but no one knows yet why the soldiers took them.
Zaw Kham Aung, aged 30, was arrested at the Bala Min Htin Bridge on 25 April 2025 at about noon, as he was trying to cross from Waingmaw to Myitkyina.
On the afternoon of 27 April, two men who had come from Chipwi Town, in Chipwi Township to the east of Waingmaw Township, were arrested at the Bala Min Htin Bridge as they tried to go from the Waingmaw side to Myitkyina.
Later that day, on the evening of 27 April, two men in a car who were also trying to cross from Waingmaw to Myitkyina, were beaten by soldiers at the bridge checkpoint. They were so badly beaten that one died and the other was left seriously injured and then arrested, according to a witness.
He said: “There was a checkpoint at the end of the bridge. Two young men had arrived by car and bumped into one of the structures there. They got out quickly to sort it out, but that’s when the soldiers started attacking them.”
KNG has managed to identify the two men who were beaten but will not disclose their identities due to the wishes of their families. The fate of the other three men arrested at the bridge is currently unknown.
In the past soldiers guarding the bridge sometimes checked cars and rarely checked motorcycles. But now, they are strictly checking all cars and motorcycles, according to locals.
The junta has restricted travel across the Bala Min Htin Bridge to the hours of 6:00 am to 7:00 pm every day, since the year of the coup, 2021.
