Seven more civilians killed in Rakhine

August 30, 2017

Members of the Mro ethnic tribe killed in a terrorist attack by ARSA; thousands continue to flee to Sittway and border

The government confirmed yesterday that seven Mro ethnic people were killed and five injured by terrorists on Monday during an attack on Khon-Taing Village in Maungtaw Township, Rakhine State.

Hundreds of extremists Terrorists from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) descended on the small village, killing the villagers and then burning down their homes, the government said.

“About 400 ARSA extremist terrorists attacked Khon-Taing Village of Mro ethnic people in Maungtaw Township on 28th August afternoon and burnt down the homes. In the attack, three men and four women were killed while two men and three women were injured while one man and two women are still missing,” said a report released by the information committee of the government.

The ARSA extremist terrorists continued their attacks with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against security forces and burnt down neighbouring villages, according to the report.

Ethnic villagers from the conflict areas are fleeing to Buthidaung and Maungtaw and nearby police outposts. One soldier, 11 policemen, one civil servant, seven members of a Hindu family, five Daingnet ethnic people and seven Mro ethnic people have so far been killed in the attacks, in addition to scores of terrorists, which started with a series of coordinated attacks by ARSA extremist terrorists on security forces on Friday.

“A mass of extremist terrorists came to our village in large group. While defending against them, an arrow they shot hit me on my leg through. At that time, our villagers gathered, frightening the terrorists to run away,” said Maung Tha Aung, a local ethnic man from Tharyargone Village in Maungtaw township, who fled to Sittway.

“Terrorists were estimated to be about one hundred. As children were accompanying them, they seemed to live in nearby villages. I was greatly annoyed with being bullied by them. I would not leave our locations. On our way to the place, there were many people left at their places, as there were not any vehicles such as cars and boats,” he added.

Since then, more than 18,000 Muslims from Rakhine State, have fled the violence in northwest Myanmar, while thousands more are stuck at the Bangladesh border or scrambling to reach it.

In addition, the government has evacuated thousands of Rakhine Buddhists further south to Sittway.

The United Nations, while condemning the militant attacks, has asked the Union government to protect civilian lives without discrimination and appealed to Bangladesh to admit those fleeing the military counteroffensive.

At least 109 people have been killed in the attacks by ARSA extremist terrorists, most of them terrorists but also members of the security forces and civilians.

The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a similar coordinated attacks on security posts . —Myanmar News Agency

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar