Captured commander says bodies in Buthidaung Twsp village were junta soldiers

By Admin 25 Aug 2025

DMG Newsroom

25 August 2025, Buthidaung

More than 100 military-trained Muslim recruits and junta soldiers were killed during a clash between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) near Htan Shauk Khan Village in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, according to the former deputy commander of the junta's Military Operations Command No. 15 in Buthidaung, who was captured by the AA as a prisoner of war.

The AA captured Military Operations Command No. 15 on May 2, 2024, and continued its offensive against Light Infantry Battalion No. 551, forcing the commander of the Military Operations Command No. 15, along with about 1,000 junta soldiers and their families, to retreat to Htan Shauk Khan Village to prepare a defensive position, he said.

The Arakan Army launched an offensive on Htan Shauk Khan Village on May 3, 2024, resulting in fierce fighting and the deaths of more than 100 junta soldiers, and on May 4, all remaining troops, including the deputy commander of Military Operations Command No. 15, surrendered to the ethnic armed group.

"The fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army was fierce. There was a lot of shooting on both sides. A total of more than 100 officers and soldiers on our side and the military-trained Muslim soldiers were killed. Many of their dependent families were also injured," said Col. Kaung Myat, the former deputy commander of Military Operations Command No. 15.

Htan Shauk Khan villagers said they had been fleeing since a junta column entered on May 2, 2024.

U Zolati, a 52-year-old Htan Shauk Khan villager, said he saw bodies of junta soldiers in and around the village after the fighting broke out, when he subsequently visited the village.

"After the fighting, when we returned home, a neighbour asked us to look at their house. We found human skeletons there. Not a single Muslim man or woman among the skeletons, all of them were junta soldiers. We also found two Muslim armed men," he said.

Col. Kaung Myat said that junta soldiers killed in the fighting were buried in various parts of the village and surrounding areas.

He added that since the military contingent entered Htan Shauk Khan Village on May 3 last year, no villagers have been seen, and the skeletons found near the village were those of junta soldiers who died in the fighting.

"There were so many bodies that it was impossible to bury them properly in a cemetery. During the fighting, fighter jets were also bombing and fighting was also taking place on the Buthidaung side. The bodies of the junta soldiers were buried as close to the area as possible," he said.

Human rights groups and Muslim activists have accused the AA of killing about 600 Muslims, including children and pregnant women from Htan Shauk Khan Village, in May 2024.

Muslim elders of Maungdaw District issued a statement on August 23 saying that the skeletons found in Htan Shauk Khan Village were the remains of junta soldiers who died in the fighting, and that the accusations that the AA killed more than 600 Muslims were false.

Regarding the matter, AA officials visited Htan Shauk Khan Village and interviewed the village head. The population of Htan Shauk Khan Village before the fighting was 993 and is currently 790.