Junta denies Sittwe village massacre

By Admin 04 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
4 June 2024, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime has denied slaughtering dozens of civilians in Byaing Phyu Village in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township, calling the alleged massacre a complete fabrication.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun told junta-controlled media on Tuesday that three people were killed in a shootout. According to his telling, regime troops questioned suspects in Byaing Phyu Village on May 29 in response to reports that Arakkha Army (AA) troops were staying in the village. One of the suspects grabbed a gun from a security guard and attempted to attack. Three were killed when security personnel fired shots in response.

“We are questioning around 20 suspects. The AA has spread propaganda by falsely accusing that around 40 people were killed, and women were raped,” the regime spokesman told the state-owned broadcaster MRTV.

The AA has made such an accusation to cover up its alleged killing of Muslims and arson attacks against their houses in Buthidaung Township, said Zaw Min Tun.

“[The AA] torched all the Muslim villages east of Buthidaung. And we have also received strong evidence that it has committed massacres. It is spreading propaganda against us to cover up those crimes,” said the junta spokesman.

The regime has also accused the AA of instigating racial tensions and practising racial discrimination. The ethnic armed group is stirring hatred against Muslims, and other ethnic minorities such as the Mro, Khami, Thet and Daingnet tribes, claimed Zaw Min Tun.

Large numbers of junta troops raided Byaing Phyu Village on Wednesday, and forced all the villagers including elderly persons and infants out of their houses to a field. Men aged between 15 and 70 were told to take off their shirts. They were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs and were forced to kneel under the sun, said Byaing Phyu villagers.

“They were not given water. They were beaten and forced to walk and kneel under the sun the whole day,” said a woman from Byaing Phyu Village.

The AA said on Sunday that over 170 junta soldiers, members of the Arakan Liberation Party/Arakan Liberation Army and Muslim conscripts raided Byaing Phyu and arrested all the villagers including children and women. 

On Tuesday, the AA updated its accounting of the Byaing Phyu massacre’s death toll, saying 76 were killed.