Junta troops accused of stealing from Taungup University rector’s home

By Admin 02 Jul 2024

DMG Newsroom
2 July 2024, Taungup

Junta soldiers deployed on the campus of Taungup University in Arakan State’s Taungup Town broke into the apartment of the university rector and stole valuables, sources told DMG.

“Junta soldiers broke into the rector’s apartment, and took things,” said one source.

An artillery shell fired by the regime landed on the campus of Taungup University on June 17, damaging a car and the staff quarters.

The rector and faculty members subsequently moved off campus, which was later occupied by junta troops.

Military tensions have been running high in Taungup Township. The regime has planted landmines around the town, part of its defence preparations.

“We can’t freely go into the town now. Junta soldiers have increasingly tightened security. We have to be on alert. We don’t feel safe,” said a Taungup resident.

Junta soldiers have occupied houses and public buildings in the Arakan State towns they still control and have looted private property, said residents who accuse the regime of taking out its anger on civilians after ceding large swaths of territory to the Arakkha Army (AA) in recent months.

The regime has also evicted residents from some 12 villages in Sittwe Township. Junta soldiers have since occupied those villages, where they are similarly accused of looting valuables and destroying property.

“The regime has been stealing and deliberately destroying private property,” said a social activist.

Numerous houses, shops and buildings in Arakan State have been destroyed or damaged by junta airstrikes, artillery shellings and arson attacks over the past seven months, since hostilities between the regime and AA flared anew in November.