Locals unsettled after Myanmar military raids home, questions passersby in Sittwe

By DMG 11 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
11 April 2022,Sittwe 

A home in Taw Kan village, Sittwe Township, was raided by four policemen and about 20 junta soldiers at around 11 p.m. on April 9, leaving local residents in a state of panic. 

“The junta police and soldiers raided a home, but they didn’t find the homeowner. So they took photos of the home and motorbikes. The villagers were afraid of the raid,” said a local resident who did not want to be named for security reasons. 

“At present, members of the Myanmar military are stationed at Wabo and Tawkan Kue jetties, and have not yet returned from the area as no order has been received from their officers, said U Win Maung, the village administrator. 

“Members of the Myanmar military didn’t tell us why they came to the village,” he added. 

Many Taw Kan residents fled to nearby villages out of fear that they might be arrested by the security forces conducting the raid, the village administrator said, adding that most of the locals had since returned. 

The military also deployed a large number of troops in the city of Sittwe on Sunday evening, subjecting pedestrians to questioning and inspections at some locations in the Arakan State capital including near Mee Set Gyi junction and in front of the Arakan State Police headquarters. 

“In previous years, the Arakanese people were not happy with the fighting and the Covid-19 epidemic. This year, the fighting has stopped and there is no Covid-19 epidemic. It is disturbing that Myanmar is conducting interrogations of people planning to have fun in Arakan State during the Thingyan festival,” said Ko Nyi Naing, a resident of Sittwe. 

DMG repeatedly telephoned the Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs, Colonel Kyaw Thura, regarding the Myanmar military’s reported interrogations of civilians, but he could not be reached. 

Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) have observed an unofficial ceasefire since November 2020, after two years of fighting in Arakan State and neighbouring Chin State, which saw much of the region become heavily militarised. Though the ceasefire has largely held for more than a year, simmering tensions have been reported between the two sides over recent months.