Military, AA negotiate to clear landmines from Arakan’s forests

By DMG 10 Mar 2021

DMG Newsroom
10 March 2021, Sittwe  

Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) are negotiating to clear landmines in the mountains and forests where the two sides clashed in the past, according to Colonel Min Than, a member of the military-run Arakan State Administration Council.  

“The AA would clear landmines in the mountains and forests. Leaders are negotiating. The AA would clear their landmines first,” said Col. Min Than. 

DMG was unable to contact the AA for comment as Myanmar’s military has declared the ethnic armed group to be a terrorist organisation. Following a two-year period of active hostilities between the two sides, however, Tatmadaw-AA clashes have ceased in Arakan State since November. 

A 27-year-old man lost one of his legs after stepping on an unexploded explosive in Myebon Township on Monday, and two children were injured in an explosive remnant of war blast last week in Rathedaung Township. Another civilian lost a leg in a landmine explosion in Ann Township on February 17. 

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have called for the clearing of landmines in the forested areas that often provide the main sources of their livelihoods, calling mine clearance a precondition for their return to home. 

Myanmar’s military began clearing landmines in Arakan State last month, and is currently removing mines in Ann Township, according to Col. Min Than. 

“We are currently clearing mines in Ann. Mine clearance is almost done in Mrauk-U,” he said. 

At least 33 people were killed and 66 others were injured in explosions of landmines and explosive remnants of war during roughly two years of fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army in Arakan State, according to figures provided by the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) last year. 

In a statement released a few days after the military coup on February 1, the Arakan National Party said it had asked the junta’s State Administration Council to rescind the AA’s terrorist designation.