A Myanmar border guard at a police outpost in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, on Tuesday. An insurgent group attacked four police stations in Rakhine last week.CreditCreditHein Htet/EPA, via Shutterstock
JANUARY 7th 2019
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily
Myanmar Vows to ‘Crush’ Insurgents Who Attacked Police Stations
During a rare meeting with the Myanmar military chief and the country’s government leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, intense discussions were held in regards to the recent insurgent attacks on Myanmar police. According to a government spokesman, her administration called for the armed forces to “crush” the rebels before they can do more harm.
In Naypyitaw, the country’s capital, Zaw Htay; the aforementioned spokesman, told a news conference that “The president’s office has instructed the military to launch an operation to crush the terrorists,” more specifically.
According to the United Nations, the conflict between the rebel Arakan Army and government forces has led to the displacement of thousands of citizens in the western state of Rakhine since early December.
After having been displaced by the fighting and conflicts over the course of the past month, it was stated in Monday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that over 4,500 people had been forced into sheltering in monasteries and communal spaces, with nowhere else to go.
The subject of “foreign affairs and national security” was discussed in detail by Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other cabinet members who recently met with military leaders, including army chief Min Aung Hlaing, his deputy and the military intelligence chief, according to spokesman Zaw Htay.
13 policemen were killed and 9 wounded by the insurgents on Friday, whilst Myanmar was celebrating its independence day, said the state media. The Araken Army, described as Zaw Htay as a “terrorist organization”, had a spokesman outside Myanmar last week tell Reuters that the group’s attack was a violent response, to the broad military offensive that took place in northern Rakhine State, in which the participants also ended up targeting civilians.
Government spokesman Zaw Htay, distressed over the implications this may have for Myanmar, went on to add; “Do they want to see a cycle of violence lasting decades? I want to tell Rakhine people who are supporting the Arakan Army: Don’t think about yourself, but think about your next generation.”
He believes the Arakan Army will soon be the cause for destabilisation in the Rakhine State, warning people to show the “terrorist organisation” no support. The Arakan Army faced further accusations on Zaw Htay’s part of having met, and possibly allied themselves with the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – a known group of insurgents recognised by the Myanmar government as terrorists.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army are a group that the Myanmar government’s had trouble with for a while, and claim they’ve been unable to eliminate them thus far due to them apparently having set up bases across the border in Bangladesh. The accusation was met with insistent denials from Bangladeshi foreign ministry official and two Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) officers.
Lieutenant Colonel Manzural Hasan Khan, a BGB commander in Cox’s Bazar, said that “All the terrorism is taking place on the other side of the border.”
Cox’s Bazar is a known district where over 900,000 Rohingya Muslims are presently sheltering, having fled the bouts of violence and “ethnic cleansing” attempts that occurred in Myanmar not long ago. “The world knows what happened on the other side,” he added.
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily
