Junta’s home minister tells police to work with Myanmar military

By DMG 07 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
7 September 2022, Sittwe

Union Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Soe Htut of Myanmar’s military regime has instructed police forces in Arakan State to cooperate with the military for security services in the state, according to a September 7 issue of the junta-controlled newspaper Myanma Alin.

Lt-Gen Soe Htut, who is also a member of the regime’s administrative body, the State Administration Council (SAC), visited Sittwe and Maungdaw, sites of the latest fighting between Myanmar military forces and the Arakan Army (AA), from September 4-5, said junta media.

The lieutenant general told police to cooperate with the Myanmar military regarding the security affairs of the state during his meeting with personnel and their families from local police forces.

Describing the Myanmar military, which calls itself Tatmadaw as the “elder brother” of the police force in his speech, Soe Htut further confirmed the widely held view that the police force is subordinate to Myanmar’s military.

“Police are to continue to perform successfully like this by cooperating with brother Tatmadaw on security issues as part of the tradition,” the minister was quoted as saying.

“He has instructed the police, who are the secondary force of the Myanmar military, to work in unity perhaps because border guard police outposts were attacked. Whether clashes will continue in Arakan State depends on the regime leader,” suggested veteran politician U Pe Than.

The AA seized a border guard police outpost near Milepost No. 40 on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in northern Maungdaw on August 31. Nineteen border guard police died, and weapons and ammunition were seized in the clash, according to the AA.

The regime said on September 2 that security personnel are taking necessary measures to retake control of the outpost. Since then, the Myanmar military has carried out attacks using fighter jets, helicopters and artillery, with some shells landing in Bangladesh.

After two years of fighting from late 2018 to November 2020, the Myanmar military and Arakan Army reached an unofficial ceasefire. But the peace pact has appeared on the verge of total collapse for weeks amid months of escalating military tensions and a series of clashes between the two sides.