2nd visit to Maungtaw made by journalists

 September 6, 2017

A group comprised of local and foreign independent journalists left Sittway yesterday morning by express boat and arrived at Maungtaw via Buthidaung, in northern Rakhine State, in the afternoon to gather information regarding the activities of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists.

Col. Phone Tint, Minister for Security and Border Affairs of Rakhine State, and a Deputy Commissioner met with the reporters and explained the general situation of the area and answered questions at a meeting in the Maungtaw Administration Office.

The media group then went to No. 4 Basic Education Middle School (affiliated), where they interviewed Hindu people who were forced to flee their homes and take refuge after the 25 August terrorist attacks by ARSA extremist terrorists.

The 348 Hindu people being sheltered at the high school are part of 65 households in Maungtaw’s 4th Ward. They told journalists they were attacked by extremists, who then set fire to their homes.

The media group then proceeded to Shwezar, Kappakaung village tract, and Gonna Village, where they interviewed and photographed some of the 14,000 people of the Islamic faith, who were found to be living in peace and stability, with no extremist terrorists in the village, according to the information department. Daily activities were running as usual, according to village personnel. The journalists then took photos of the burnt houses near Zawtikaryone Monastery, Kanyintan Ward of Maungtaw. They also met and interviewed the presiding monk of the monastery.

Myanmar News Agency

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar