Junta soldiers’ gunfire in Kyauktaw frightens locals

By DMG 21 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
21 December 2022, Sittwe

Junta troops stationed near the Maha Myat Muni Buddha Image and pagoda in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township let loose a burst of gunfire on Tuesday night despite the military’s ceasefire with the Arakan Army (AA), panicking local people.

A resident of Thayettabin Village said he heard six gunshots at around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, coming from the pagoda compound.

“Everyone was frightened by the gunfire. Some shop owners did not open their shops this morning. Some who have to leave their houses early in the morning to go to work did not go to work. People were concerned,” he said.

Some 50 Myanmar junta soldiers and police have been stationed in the compound of the popular Kyauktaw pilgrimage site since June, according to locals.

“We hid beneath our houses when we heard gunshots from the Maha Muni pagoda. I lay sleepless throughout the night, worrying about another round of fighting,” said a displaced woman from Nyaungchaung displacement camp in Kyauktaw, referring indirectly to some four months of often-intense hostilities between the military and Arakan Army, which came to a halt with an informal ceasefire on November 26. The renewed fighting began in earnest in August.

Faced with armed conflicts for years, many locals are suffering from emotional trauma, said former Lower House lawmaker U Oo Tun Win of Kyauktaw Township.

“Locals are concerned that clashes will break out again. [The regime] is instilling fear in people. As they targeted people in previous fighting, people always feel fear upon seeing them,” said U Oo Tun Win.

The number of visitors to the Maha Myat Muni Buddha Image has declined in recent months, according to the pagoda’s board of trustees.

“Pilgrims have concerns as there is no stability, and they have the experience of being seriously affected by armed conflicts,” said a trustee.

DMG was unable to reach junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun and Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura for comment.