Scores of houses torched in two Ponnagyun Twsp villages

By Admin 04 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
4 December 2023, Ponnagyun

Nearly 200 homes in Yeyoepyin and Khamaungdaw villages in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, were burned down by junta soldiers on Sunday, according to local residents.

A 100-strong military contingent entered Yeyoepyin and Khamaungdaw villages at about 3 p.m. on December 3 and set fire to around 170 homes in the villages.

“First, junta soldiers torched about 130 homes in Yeyoepyin Village. Four hours later, they reduced more than 30 homes to ashes in Khamaungdaw Village,” said a local man from Yeyoepyin Village.

The junta soldiers’ alleged mass arson came without any reports of there being fighting in Ponnagyun Township on Sunday.

Junta soldiers also set fire to about 400 baskets of paddy piled up in the fields near Yeyoepyin Village, according to the villagers. In addition to residents from Yeyoepyin and Khamaungdaw villages, local people from nearby villages such as Kanchaung and Aungmyaygon have also fled to safer locations.

“It is not good for junta soldiers to carry out such an arson attack on the people,” said a resident of Khamaungdaw Village.

DMG phoned Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura regarding the matter, but he could not be reached.

The military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 270 carried out arson attacks in Yeyoepyin and Khamaungdaw villages, the Arakan Army said in a statement on December 3.

Human rights activists say the junta is deliberately targeting civilians.

“This incident is a threat to the people’s livelihoods. And junta soldiers are violating people’s human rights,” said an activist in Arakan State.

Junta artillery strikes reportedly caused a fire at Myoma Market in Ponnagyun town on November 24 that engulfed more than 300 stalls.