Dozens of Rohingyas have been taken away by Tatmadaw officials on Friday from Ward no 5 in Buthidaung town to be served for military service as the Arakan Army prepares for an offensive to take over the Rohingya majority town, also the garrison of a once powerful military presence in the area.
In recent weeks, Buthidaung has witnessed several incidents of forced conscription as Tatmadaw officials aided by Rohingya collaborators, many of them members of the militant group ARSA had kidnapped several hundred youths or given families and communities quotas to fulfil for military service.
Many of them have been used as human shields leading to extremely high casualties among forcefully conscripted Rohingya youths.
Many in collaboration with ARSA have joined the Tatmadaw willingly and have helped the Tatmadaw carry out attacks against Rakhine civilians in the area.
The Tatmadaw has been accused of stoking up long standing Rakhine Rohingya tensions and made overtures to the Rohingya community against whom they have a long history of genocide in a desperate bid to slow the advance of the powerful insurgent group Arakan Army.
Following manoeuvring by the SAC, Rakhine Rohingya relations have hit a new low and old tensions have come to the forefront.
