Five locals killed, two injured in ARSA ambush in Maungdaw Twsp

By Admin 01 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
1 August 2024, Maungdaw

Five people were killed and two others were severely injured after a civilian vehicle was ambushed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, on Wednesday, according to a local source.

ARSA members opened fire on a vehicle carrying seven internally displaced people (IDPs) — six men and one woman — from Buthidaung at a location between Shwetaung and Kyee Kan Pyin villages in Maungdaw Township on the evening of July 31. The vehicle was heading to Kyeinchaung Village in Maungdaw when it was attacked by the ARSA militants.

“A civilian vehicle carrying IDPs was heading to Kyeinchaung Village to buy food items when it was ambushed by ARSA members at around 5:30 p.m. on July 31,” said a resident of Shwetaung Village.

The victims who are killed and injured in the ambush are the displaced people from Buthidaung who are currently taking refuge in Gantgawmyaing Village.

The deceased have been identified as U Zaw Zaw Min, 35, Ko Aung Myat San, 25, Ko Aung Myo San, 25, U Kyaw Min, 55, and Daw Sein Hla Phyu, 55, from Buthidaung’s Ward-4. The two injured are Myo Than Shein, 27, and U Maung Maung Chay, 44.

The two injured are said to be in critical condition and are currently being treated by the Arakkha Army (AA).

Armed Muslim groups such as ARSA, the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) are active on the Bangladeshi-Arakan State border. They are accused of arresting, killing and abducting civilians in northern Arakan State, contributing to a climate of fear and insecurity among local populations.

“Armed Muslim groups are active on the Bangladesh-Arakan State border. Armed Muslim men kill local people on a daily basis, mainly ambushing residents,” said a resident of Maungdaw.

Armed Muslim groups have joined the regime to fight against the AA and have been abducting young men from Muslim refugee camps in Bangladesh, selling them to the regime as conscripts.