Woman killed in junta arson attack on Maungdaw Twsp village

By Admin 07 May 2024

DMG Newsroom
7 May 2024, Maungdaw

One woman was killed and 15 houses were incinerated in an arson attack by junta troops and Muslim conscripts on Waithali Village in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

“I heard gunshots the whole night,” said a community elder from Maungdaw Town.

The woman killed by junta soldiers was in her 30s, according to residents.

Waithali Village has around 100 households, and most residents have fled to Maungdaw Town and nearby villages since the Arakkha Army (AA) launched an attack on the junta’s 4th mile outpost.

One Maungdaw resident said: “That village is close to the 4th mile outpost. Villagers have fled since the AA attacked the outpost. Only a few residents were left in the village. Fighting is intense near the 4th mile outpost.”

In Maungdaw, the regime and some Muslims are committing deliberate attacks on residential areas in an effort to incite racial conflicts. Muslims were also among hundreds of junta soldiers from the Buthidaung-based 15th Military Operations Command who recently surrendered to advancing AA forces.

“The regime is deliberately torching houses to create racial conflicts. Some Muslims are also working hand in glove. Some Muslims were forced [to take part in the destructive acts]. Anyway, the AA must handle Muslim issues carefully when junta troops are driven out of Arakan State,” said the Maungdaw resident.

More than 1,500 houses as well as an office and pharmacy of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) were destroyed in arson attacks in Buthidaung Town in April. Muslim conscripts as well as members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Arakan Rohingya Army and Rohingya Solidarity Organization were involved in the arson attacks.

Fighting has been raging in Arakan State since mid-November. The regime has been forcibly conscripting locals, including Muslims, and sending many of them to the front line to fight the AA.