Scores of Rohingya men, women, and children were shot by the AA in the Koyachuri Hamlet of Dabru Chaung village in Buthidaung on Thursday leading to many casualties. They also gang-raped many Rohingya women.
Earlier on April 12, an order was decreed by the AA that the Rohingya should evacuate the hamlet, but only a few complied with the order, believing once they left, they would never be allowed to come back.
Then on Thursday, AA fighters went to the village and set fire to Rohingya dwellings. As the inhabitants of Koyachuri fled, the AA fired random shots at the fleeing men, women and children resulting in scores of fatalities and injuries.
Speaking to Rohingya Khobor, resident of Koyachuri, Amanullah said that the AA slaughtered twenty members of his family.
The 551 Military Battalion Cantonment of Buthidaung has been taken over by the AA. The Rohingya on the east and west sides were also ordered by the AA gave to leave their settlements. The AA forcibly uprooted and evacuated the residents after they refused to leave their villages. These Rohingya were then transported to Rakhine village by boat.
On the same day, AA also set fire to the settlement of Ywet Noe Taung.
Many AA fighters believe the Rohingyas are foreigners on their own land, instead implying they are illegal migrants who have crossed over from Bangladesh. The AA generally uses the term ‘Bengali’ in regards to the Rohingya.The vast majority of Rohingyas have been driven out of the country by Junta forces in 2017 following a genocidal campaign. Following a spate of arbitrary arrests and killings, enforced disappearances and rape incidents in the hands of the AA, Rohingya rights activists allege the AA is following the ways of the Junta forces they fought and is trying to intimidate the rest of the Muslim population to cross into neighbouring Bangladesh.
