TNLA, MNDAA condemn Sittwe Twsp massacre

By Admin 07 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
7 June 2024, Sittwe

The Palaung State Liberation Front/Ta’ang National Liberation Army (PSLF/TNLA) and Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party/Myanmar National Democratic Alliance (MNTJP/MNDAA) have condemned the junta’s recent massacre of civilians in Sittwe Township’s Byaing Phyu Village.

The two groups told the regime to immediately stop the violence it is meting out against civilians across the country.

The TNLA and MNDAA are members of the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance, along with the Arakkha Army (AA).

Around 170 junta troops, members of Arakan Liberation Party/Arakan Liberation Army and Muslim conscripts raided Byaing Phyu Village on May 29, detaining anyone there they could find, including children.

The AA said junta troops tortured many of the detainees before killing 76 villagers and raping some women. They also looted valuables from Byaing Phyu residents, according to the AA.

The TNLA and MNDAA urged the international community, including the United Nations, to protect civilians against the junta's atrocities. They also urged civilians to stay alert at all times to the possibility of junta air and artillery attacks.

The TNLA and MNDAA are installing their respective administrations in territory seized from the regime during the anti-regime Operation 1027 offensive in northern Shan State between November and mid-January of this year. The fighting ended after China brokered a ceasefire in mid-january.

One political analyst said: “The regime will do more harm to the people as losses mount. People will be hurt.”

The AA on Sunday warned that it would retaliate against anyone involved in the Byaing Phyu Village massacre.

Student unions based in Yangon and Worldwide United Arakan Network on Wednesday called for justice in the Byaing Phyu massacre, and urged the international community and United Nations to punish the regime.

The regime has denied massacring residents in Byaing Phyu Village. Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun said three suspicious men attempted to snatch guns from security personnel who questioned them, and they were killed incidentally.