May 9, 2017
Buthidaung- An explosion injured four Rohingya loggers in the hills near Kyan Taung in Buthidaung on Thursday.
Tatmadaw officials present in the area have immediately placed the blame on Muslim rebel outfit ARSA and have begun a combing operations around the Rohingya settlements in the area.
However local sources have confirmed the victims were Rohingya loggers who went to the hills for work and there is no link between the ARSA and this incident. The ARSA has previously been involved in attacks on Rohingya collaborators but the victims were all ordinary civilians out on a day’s job, say local sources. The ARSA is also known to be short of explosives and lacks the resources to launch an attack of this nature.
Rohingya activists have said the attack on Muslim civilians have been timed to express solidarity with Ma Ba Tha monk Wirathu who is currently on a tour to the frontier regions. The tour shrouded with secrecy and mystery seems to have the full backing of both the Tatmadaw which has provided officials for Wirathu’s safety, and the local government dominated by the ANP which has expressed open and strong support for his campaign against Rohingyas and other Muslims in Myanmar.
Local sources have backed this statement saying it is the work of Buddhist nationalists backed by state forces to create a pretext for launching attacks on Rohingya civilians.
Many have expressed fears that the Tatmadaw is utilising Wirathu and his followers to create fertile grounds for a crackdown resembling the one that took place in Northern Maungdaw last year. In remoter regions of Buthidaung township, reports are coming that the army and their Rakhine collaborators are involved in the killing of Rohingya people including infant children.
The army has however stuck to its statement and has imposed a strict blockade on Kyan Taung and neighbouring settlements. As the local Rohingyas are dependent almost solely on logging for a livelihood, they have been unable to go to the hills for work since last week. The poorest section of the populace, dependent on a daily income are spending days without food.
Meanwhile on Sunday, a huge Tatmadaw force raided Kyan Taung. Almost all the male population was herded to a field where many were verbally and physically abused. No deaths or injuries have been reported but locals are fearing the crackdown might get more serious in the coming days.
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