Over 200 houses in wards in Buthidaung Township of Arakan State, where Arakan people are living, were burned down by the military council force, terrorist members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and armed Muslims who have completed the military training, according to locals.
The owners of the houses in Buthidaung said that they were particularly saddened as the houses in the wards where most of Arakanese people are living have been demolished and burned down by the military council and ARSA terrorist group while they are fleeing the war.
A businessperson from Buthidaung said: “The houses owned by our families were burned down. Before the shops were burned down, the shops were first burgled. Most of arson attacks occur in the places where most of Arakanese people’s belongings and houses are located. They do nothing in the market where most of Muslim-owned shops are loacted. We are speechless as we feel so embittered. We feel really bad.”
Since 14 April, the Arakanese people’s houses have been burned down by the military council force, the ARSA and the Muslims who have completed military training and a group of pro-military Muslims in Buthidaung every day, locals said.
A displaced woman from Buthidaung said: “We have fled our homes to escape the war. We are experiencing arson attacks. I don’t think they will do this again together with the military when everyone hates the military. Anyway, I hope that the relevant parties will do justice to this matter.”
On 14 April, some 50 Arakanese homes, including former Lower House MP U Aung Thaung Shwe’s house and office in Buthidaung, were burned down by some Muslim extremists trained by the military council, residents said.
Similarly, on 15 April, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced that more than 200 civilian houses including the offices and medical storage facilities were burned, in Buthidaung.
On the morning of 11 April, the bodies of two 30-year-old youths who were murdered in Buthidaung town which is still under the military council’s rule, were found. Locals say the military council and extremist Muslims are creating religious and racial conflicts.
In addition to this, the Indian Express reported that more than 1,600 Hindus and 120 Buddhists were being held hostage by Islamic terrorist groups in Buthidaung.
Sent by Narinjara