AB News – June 13, 2024
On June 10, the military council issued an order to demolish the houses of all the people of Rakhine villages under Sittwe Township and to move to Sittwe, the capital of Arakan, within 5 days, a political observer told AB News.
He said that the people who had moved to Sittwe City were placed in Buddhist monasteries in Sittwe and intended to be used as human shields by the military council if a battle broke out.
“The people of Byai Phru village were forced to move, fell into the killing squad, and were threatened by the military council. As an example, hundreds of people in Pauktaw were arrested and used as human shields in the battle. Now Sittwe, Arakan’s capital, is the key fortress city for the Military Council. I can see the heinous idea of the military council that they will do everything they can to ensure the city does not lose to AA,” he said.
A reliable source told AB News that on June 13, all the people of Rakhine villages under the Sittwe Township had moved to Sittwe and located all of them in Buddhist monasteries in Sittwe City. The villagers had to take the initiative to move by themselves. The military council did not provide any support to the villagers in the process of relocating.
“Meanwhile all Rakhine villages under the Sittwe Township have moved to the city,” he said. The people were panicky about being killed, like the mass killing in Byai Phru Village. “It is known that the military council has not arranged anything for feeding them,” he said.
Despite this, AB News was trying to get the photos and video records, but the military council had cut off internet connections in the entire Sittwe Township. As a result, it was not possible to collect them.
All Arakan Students and Youth Congress (AASYC) said in its press release issued on June 10 that the chief minister of the military council, Htein Lin directed all the people of 12 villages, living along the bank of the Kruite River to Sittwe from June 10 to June 14.
The press release of AASYC also mentioned that the soldiers of the military council warned the villagers to move the places within the designated time; otherwise, the entire villages would be demolished.