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12/5/2018 Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents

Burma

Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged


Arakan Army Insurgents

 Three detainees. / Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Office

By NAN LWIN HNIN PWINT 13 September 2018

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12/5/2018 Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents

YANGON — Myanmar Army soldiers reportedly raided a house in Kachin State’s


Hpakant on Tuesday and detained three men they claimed were insurgents extorting
money for the Arakan Army.

The raid happened at a house in the village of Ah Hmike Pon Gone in Hpakant around
10 a.m. on Tuesday.

The village was formerly a dumpsite for mining waste but later prospectors came and
resided there.  About 1,000 prospectors from Rakhine State currently live there.

“People in plain clothes arrived around 10 a.m. in three cars and shot at the house. And
they also dragged a few people into the cars. A few Arakanese people were abducted.
I don’t know if they were dead or alive. For the time being, the house has been
blockaded by soldiers,” said an Arakanese eyewitness who did not want to be named.

“Only Arakanese people live here. We are quite shocked by the shooting. People are in
a state of panic. They do nothing wrong and only search for stones. They are worried
that they will also be shot,” he added.

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12/5/2018 Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents


The raided house. /
Commander-in-Chief of
Defense Services Office

Other prospectors living in the ward also said on the condition of anonymity that they
did not know the reason behind Tuesday’s shooting, that the shooters were in plain
clothes, and that a complaint had not been filed with the police because the abducted
Arakanese youth were single and without family members in the area.

According to the local ward administrators and community elders, there are more than
200,000 prospectors in Hpakant from across the country.

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12/5/2018 Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents

When asked about the incident by The Irrawaddy, the Hpakant Township police force
said to ask the Myanmar Army, also known as the Tatmadaw.

In a statement, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services said that


security forces searched the mines in response to news that extortion money was
being collected from prospectors. Near a pile of waste close to the ward of Maw Wun,
insurgents shot four times with small arms. The Tatmadaw returned fire. Four fled and
three were arrested, according to the statement.

The Tatmadaw, in its statement, referred to them as Arakan Army (AA) insurgents.

The statement said that the three detainees are San Shwe Tha from Pauktaw Township,
and Than Naing and Win Soe from Minbya Township, adding that the three were
responsible for collecting extortion money that they handed to their group leader Hla
Thein.

Tatmadaw troops are after four men including Hla Thein who fled, and will increase
security to prevent insurgents from collecting extortion money in Hpakant, its statement
said.

“It is an accusation,” said press officer Khine Thu Kha of the AA, adding that the three
are not AA members.

“Hpakant is not a place under the control of the AA, but under the Myanmar Army. They
treat all Arakanese as AA members, and [the shooting and abduction] is the bullying of
Arakanese youth who earn an honest livelihood.”

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12/5/2018 Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents

“Shooting at a house without any warrant is not what a government is supposed to do.
It is an act of scoundrels. To put it in other words, it is a war crime against citizens,” said
Khine Thu Kha.

Dashi La Seng, a Kachin State lawmaker representing Hpakant Township, said that he
does not know details about the shooting.

According to the Constitution, Hpakant is under the direct control of the Union
government while the Myanmar Army provides security for the town. There are nine
battalions in Hpakant and the Tatmadaw is solely responsible for security of the area,
the lawmaker said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

Topics: Military

Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint


The Irrawaddy

Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint is Reporter at the Burmese edition of The Irrawaddy.

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