One more Rohingya civilian was shot dead as the Arakan Army (AA) rebels and the Myanmar military continue to battle near the Rohingya villages, while a group of armed men in AA rebel unforms raided a Mosque causing disturbances to the those offering prayers and robbing them in northern Maungdaw

By RP Correspondent | October 10

Maungdaw, Arakan State — A Rohingya civilian was killed as his head was decapitated by the flying artilleries at around 2:00am on October 10 as the battles between the AA rebels — who have taken their positions/bases in and around Rohingya villages — and the Myanmar military continue to rage in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships for about a month.

The name of the victim was “Sirazul Haque (aka Antura), 32, S/o Hamidul Hoque, and was from the village of Kuir Khali (Leik Ya in Burmese), region 4, in northern Maungdaw bordering Bangladesh. Some villagers said that the killing was likely due to the artilleries fired by the Myanmar military while others claimed that it was due to the firing by the AA rebels as the place of the death is near to the place where the AA rebels are taking their grounds.

The killing was the latest incident after killing of Shaykhul Islam, a highly educated Rohingya civilian, by the AA Rebel Snipers in northern Buthidaung on Oct 8 last Saturday. [Read the report: ]

In a separate incident on October 9 night, a group of men in AA rebel uniforms broke into the Mosque at ” Thein Taung Pyin” in Buthidaung while people were offering prayers. The rebels held them against their guns and searched them. Then they robbed a smart phone, money and other belongings of the people offering prayers.

The Arakan Army or AA is a Rakhine Buddhist rebel group engaging in battles with the Myanmar military claiming they want an independent or Confederate Arakan state. Though their leadership claims they want an inclusive Arakan state (including Rohingya), they openly denounce their very ethnic identity “Rohingya.”

Since their engagements in battle with the Myanmar military in late 2018, they have killed and kidnapped Rohingya civilians, extorted money from them, raped their women, confiscated their lands and many more. They have taken positions in and around the Rohingya villages — that have nothing to do with the fights —  and using them as their covers, therefore inviting the Myanmar military in and around the Rohingya villages and turning them into their battlegrounds despite knowing full well that the Myanmar military has the notorious records of in discriminatory attacks. All these illegal actions are bringing further destructions to the Genocide survivors under the provisional measures of protections of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), one oberserver of the situation commented.

[Edited by M.S. Anwar]