Clarification of true instances and disclaimer of fictitious facts about the allegation on Arakan Army of committing of burning down 200 houses after Myanmar Army firing Lakka(Lek Ka) village, Mrauk-U Township, Rakhine state
19 May 2020
At 1:40 pm, on 16 May 2020, there was a clash for a few minutes between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army because the column about a hundred troops of the 8th Light Infantry Battalion, based in Belin under the command of Division 44 of Myanmar Army launched offensive assaults the place the Arakan Army’s troops where was a distance about 400 meters at the south of Lakka(Lek Ka) village, Mrauk-U, Arakan State. We retreated a little back from that place as the reason that we did not want to occur the battle. Therefore, there was no fighting continuously.
Although there was no clash, the 8th Light Infantry Battalion deliberately fired with heavy weapons based on racial hatred into Lakka(Lek Ka) village from the encountered place. Therefore, some houses in Lakka(Lek Ka) village were burnt down because of the shells of Artillery. Besides, the troops of the 8th Light Infantry Battalion entered Lakka(Lek Ka) village and set fire other some houses again. Monastery, school, rice barns, and 200 houses including furniture were also burnt down. The current value of the arson is about 15000 Lakhs (Myanmar Currency).
In addition, the 8th Light Infantry Battalion set up land-mines and attack-mines in Lakka(Lek Ka)village. There are 278 houses in Lakka(Lek Ka) village and almost villagers are fleeing because of Myanmar Army's killing brutally to civilians. This kind of situation has been for over a year. In April 2019, three villagers were killed by the Myanmar Army while they were being detained while investigating suspected 27 villagers from Lakka(Lek Ka) village who have affiliation with the Arakan Army. Many of those interrogated have become physically and mentally handicapped from their brutal torture tantamount to war crimes and are leading horrible lives. There is neither justice nor truth regarding the death of the villagers from Lakka(Lek Ka) village.
Myanmar Army is not only accusing unilaterally the Arakan Army of committing the crimes that they have committed but also reporting fabricated news about Lakka's case on the media belonging to Myanmar Army and their sponsored media. This is just an act of trying to blame the other organization for their crimes.
Although the Myanmar Army has been repeatedly committing bombardments with helicopters and jet-fighters, shelling artillery and burning down the whole villages to the region in Paletwa, Arakan State, denied their commits several times. It is only a routine operation of burning down Lakka(Lek Ka) village by the 8th Light Infantry Battalion such as before. Thus, the culprit who burned the village of Lakka(Lek Ka) is only the 8th Light Infantry Battalion (LIB), not our troops.
Myanmar Army, the 8th Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) based in Belin shelled artillery, torched some houses in Lakka(Lek Ka) village where all the villagers fled, fearing of torture and killing by Myanmar Army. Arakan people and Arakan Army will never forget this heinous act of the Myanmar Army. Arakan Army will revenge and retaliate against the Myanmar Army's divisions and battalions who have been torching Arakan villages with racial hatred.
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