On the afternoon of November 8, an armed group reportedly abducted the manager of a Puma Power fuel station located along the Yangon-Mawlamyine Highway, near Myaeni Kone Village, Thaton Township, Mon State.

Around 12:30 p.m. on November 8, a black Probox car arrived at the Puma Power fuel station in Myaeni Kone Village. Two armed men exited the vehicle, approached staff members Maung Han Htoo Zyan and Maung Aung Myint Than, and claimed they needed to inspect them.

The men led the two employees to the back of the fuel station, where they tied their hands with cords and taped their mouths shut. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion from behind the station shortly afterward.

According to a source close to the fuel station, one of the armed men then entered the manager’s office and abducted 38-year-old Daw Thein Thu Zar, the station’s manager, who resides in Naung Kalar Village in Thaton Township.

The abductors also took an Acer laptop and more than 600,000 kyats in fuel sales cash from the manager’s office. The vehicle reportedly drove off toward the direction of Thuwunna Wadi (Kyaikto) around 12:45 p.m., after an explosion was heard from the manager’s office.

The identity of the armed group involved remains unknown, and security forces have since cordoned off the area and conducted inspections.

Additionally, on November 6 at around 2 p.m., a group of around 20 armed members from the Mon National Party (V) reportedly entered the Honda Myanmar plywood factory in Kyaik Kha Village, Mudon Township. The group fired shots and abducted the factory director, manager, and a Chinese technician, according to local sources.