January 24, 2018
A series of raids conducted by military led forces in Maungdaw and Buthidaung is spreading terror among Rohingyas remaining in the frontier townships where operations of 2017 have led to the deaths of tens of thousands. This is the first time since the cessation of hostilities that the security forces has taken such an aggressive approach towards surviving Rohingya settlements.
On Monday night at around 8.30 pm, security forces entered the border village of Taung Pyo and set ablaze most of the remaining houses still standing. The border village bore the full brunt of numerous offensives in 2017 resulting in the destruction of most of the Rohingya houses and deaths of more than a hundred people. The houses left intact have now been burned down, just a day before the government said they were preparing to take back Rohingyas from the other side of the barbed wire.
Earlier on Sunday, the military announced on loudspeakers throughout all the Rohingya villages in Maungdaw township that they were going to start clearance operations to seek and destroy militant hideouts, on information that militants were planning bomb attacks on security forces. The announcement has been met with terror as clearance operations, supposedly to take out ARSA rebels had led to the deaths of thousands on October and November 2016, while clearance operations in 2017 have virtually destroyed the Rohingyas resulting in at least 10,000 casualties. The vast majority of those killed had no connection with ARSA, while hundreds included children. Survivors say whenever a military attacked a village, they just opened automatic fire, and used rocket launchers aimed at the Rohingyas, taking no account of the targets. Many of the women were also apprehended and taken to schools, or other structures where they were tortured, raped and many killed, according to numerous testimonies given by those who managed to escape.
Military forces conducted a house by house search in In Tu Lah in Northern Maungdaw after announcing on loudspeakers on Sunday that militants were preparing to explode bombs. As they were conducting the raids, a bomb did explode in an unknown location. This has given rise to suspicions that the military themselves were responsible for the bomb blast.
A similar incident had taken place in Nol Ban Na of Southern Maungdaw where a bomb exploded half an hour after military annpunced the militants were planning to explode bombs.
Altogether, sources all over Maungdaw are saying that seven explosions were heard on Sunday after military announced that militants were planning to explode bombs.
There is speculation among many that these so called bomb attacks and the militants have been planted by the military themselves so as to justify clearance operations.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, the military forced the Aishwaramus of Da Bru Sang and So Parang to pay 150,000 kyats threatening violence against the settlements if the money was not paid.
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