29 April 2020
Response to Allegations of Links to Kaunghka Militia
The Burmese regime and its military have been waging a war on people of Arakan and conducting the horrendous offensive attacks of artillery fire and aerial bombardments in the practice of “State Terrorism” and “Strategic Bombing” in Arakan. Consequently, civilians in Arakan are being killed on a daily basis at the hands of the Myanmar military in addition to internet shutdown, media blackout, torching villages, subjugation, exploitation, persecution and Burmanization. Yet the Myanmar armed forces have continued to brazenly commit the worst atrocities of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, rebuffing international and national calls for a nationwide ceasefire in Myanmar to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have been dismayed by Jane’s article entitled “New strategy to address escalating insurgency in western Myanmar leaves military locked in to conflict” written by Anthony Davis on 21 April 2020, in which it was claimed that the Arakan Army has reportedly links to the Kaunghka militia solely reference to the unfounded accusations of Myanmar Military intelligence against our organization. Again, we were surprised and shocked to read Irrawaddy online news written by Zin Lin Htet dated on 28 April 2020 citing the abovementioned Jane’s article, in which it was found that the same misrepresentation of facts and unsubstantiated claims are deliberately presented to discredit our struggle for humanity in Arakan.
These allegations surfacing in the media claiming that the Arakan Army has ties to the Kaunghka militia are damaging, defamatory and false. The Arakan Army is a national revolutionary organization representing all oppressed peoples of Arakan, which has no ties to any People’s Militia Force set up and controlled by the Myanmar Army. We made it clear that the Arakan Army was not in any way connected to this militia group and, equally importantly, it was not connected to us.
Therefore, we categorically reject such unjustifiable campaign and demand Jane’s Defense Weekly and Irrawaddy news outlets to stop the publication of continued rally of fabricated information, misrepresentation of facts, unsubstantiated claims, and unwarranted accusations against the Arakan Army, which is downgrading and detrimental to our nobility of national liberation movement. We also exhort the media to verify with us in line with Journalism’s codes of ethics before the publication of any fanciful allegations against our organization.
United League of Arakan/Arakan Army
