Junta massacre in Sittwe Twsp leaves at least 41 dead

By Admin 01 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
1 June 2024, Sittwe

Junta troops and allied Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) members slaughtered at least 41 residents in Byaing Phyu Village of Set Yoe Kya ward in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township, witnesses told DMG.

Junta soldiers and ALP members came to Byaing Phyu Village on Wednesday, and carried out checks door to door, detaining men, women, elderly people and children.

Victims were slaughtered at the village school, cemetery and the entrance to the village, according to witnesses.

“Those who told them not to kill the women were shot dead. Those who had the word ‘Arakan’ tattooed on their bodies, and those who could not answer their questions, were also shot dead,” said a witness, adding: “There were many bodies whose remains could not be identified.”

DMG has learnt that the victims totalled at least 38 men and three women aged between 15 and 70 years old. The actual number killed could be higher.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from junta-appointed Arakan State military council spokesman U Hla Thein or ALP spokesman Khaing Thurein.

Junta personnel burned some bodies and took others away in cars, along with detained villagers.

The regime released women and some men, but they were not allowed to go back to their homes, said one victim.

“We were taken to Wingabar [football] pitch, from where we were told to proceed to where we wanted. Those who have no relatives in Sittwe town were taken to monasteries,” said the female victim.

Byaing Phyu Village is home to more than 1,000 households. All the residents, including the elderly and children, have been forced from their homes, and need shelter and food, according to sources.

“We can’t go back to our village. We were told to either stay with relatives or stay at displacement camps in the town. We can’t go back,” said a villager.

The regime has attempted to instil fear in Sittwe residents who remain in the town, said a military and political analyst.

“The regime is making Sittwe residents taste war atrocities. It is telling civilians that it dares to slaughter civilians like it did before in Kyauktan and Tinma villages,” he said.

“The regime can’t risk allowing the AA to seize Byaing Phyu [Village]. So, it has imposed a crackdown. It will continue to carry out raids on nearby villages,” said the Arakanese military analyst.

The regime has blockaded the Yangon-Sittwe road in Sittwe and analysts say the regime is likely to target villages neighbouring Byaing Phyu such as Kyetaw, Shwe Mingan and Than Bawli with similar raids.

Junta troops are conducting patrols around Sittwe and have also blockaded Byaing Phyu.

Seven villagers were killed and eight wounded in military custody when the Myanmar military detained and interrogated 275 residents of Kyauktan Village in Rathedaung Township in 2019. One victim succumbed to their injuries while receiving medical treatment.

The regime arrested 425 locals during the six months of fighting since clashes began anew in November, according to the Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office of the United League of Arakan/Arakkha Army (ULA/AA). A total of 268 civilians were killed by junta air and artillery strikes during that period, it said on May 28.

The regime has planted landmines and naval mines around Sittwe town, effectively barring residents from fleeing the town and hampering anticipated AA attacks.