April 27th, 2022
A military column of around 60 soldiers is entering Saparhtar and Aungzeya villages in Ponnagyun Township in Arakan State at around 2 pm on April 26th, according to locals.
The soldiers are moving from one village to another on suspicion of the fact that some members of the Arakan Army (AA) are present in Saparhtar village.
“The military column covers 57 soldiers. They came from Shwe Min Gan of Sittwe. They first entered Aung Zeya village and took a rest there for a while. Now they are entering Saparhtar village. They enter our village citing that our village has the members of the AA. I don’t know what the soldiers will do. The military has not carried out neither inspection nor interrogation yet. We are worried when the soldiers enter our village,” a Saparhtar villager who declined to be named told the DMG.
A local who declined to be named: “Villagers are worried about the soldiers’ movements. Some youths and middle-age men including the village administrator are hiding. Soldiers arrived near my house. They went to the house of the village administrator. But he was not present. I don’t know why the soldiers entered the village.”
Most of the men from the village have gone into hiding. There are the women, children and the elderly left in the village, said Ma Htay Htay from Saparhtar village.
Until now, the soldiers remained in Saparhtar village, according to locals.
Although the DMG made several calls to the administrator of Saparhtar village, no reply was received.
The AA has maintained an unofficial ceasefire with the Arakan Army through mutual understanding, for over one year.
U Pe Than, a politician said: “Locals are still worried about the resumption of fighting as the military council’s troops are entering the village. The military should avoid its movements, arrests and inspections of the people in the village. Such works would bring no fruitful results for the military, politics and economy and disrupt peace.
Although the DMG phoned Colonel Kyaw Thura, the Minister for Security and Border Affairs of the Arakan State Administration Council to seek the comment about it, no reply was received.
The AA is building administrative and judiciary mechanisms in Arakan State. The military council is disrupting the AA’s work. Fighting may occur as the AA is not patient with the military’s disruptions, U Khaing Thukha, Spokesperson of the AA said at the second press conference on April 5th.
On April 22th, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Chair of the State Administration Council invited the leaders of the Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) to hold peace talks.
Sent by Aung Htein (DMG).