HLING THARYAR, KOMPAS.com – Residents in the impoverished town of Hlaing Tharyar fled by truck and pickup when their territory was raided by the military Myanmar on Tuesday (16/3/2021).
Hlaing Tharyar is a township in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, which is well known for producing garments.
The area was hit by an emergency Myanmar military along with five other small towns with a total population of 2 million people, more than a quarter of Yangon’s population.
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AFP proclaimed that anyone arrested there would be tried by a military court, with sentences ranging from three years of forced labor to execution.
On Tuesday morning the local news agency The Irrawaddady displayed photos of fleeing residents of Hlaing Tharyar. They crammed into the back of the truck.
Then some people carry their pets on the back of motorbikes, while others load their belongings into trucks.
“We could see people on the street as far as the eye could see,” reported the local news agency Democratic Voice of Burma.
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An unnamed resident confirmed the mass exodus to AFP.
He said people had been planning to leave since dawn by opening emergency barricades so they could get out.
The barricade was designed to slow down the Myanmar military.
“After 9am, residents blocked the road again with a barrier. They allowed people to go out only in the morning.”
He added that the security forces were already on guard on the main roads of Hlaing Tharyar.
“We dare not go out on the streets,” he said, mentioning gunshots at night.
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