Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
The Arakan Army on Saturday surrounded the villages of “Paungzar” and “Piainfyu” in Maungdaw, Arakan State in western Myanmar, conducting house-to-house searches and interrogating all Rohingya residents they encountered, accusing strangers of entering the area.
Local residents told the Arakan News Agency that the operation started at 4:00 am and continued until 10:00 am, involving about 50 members of the Arakan Army, focusing on homes considered suspicious.
A resident of “Piainfyu” village said that the soldiers arrived while the villagers were sleeping, and about 20 of them entered the villages and started interrogations in the streets and shops, but no one was arrested.
The resident reported that one of the Arakan Army members mentioned that the inspections were due to reports that individuals from Bangladesh had entered the area.
In a related field development, the Myanmar Army’s air force launched an air raid on Friday afternoon, dropping two bombs, each weighing about 500 pounds, in northern Maungdaw.
The navy fired three heavy artillery shells near the “Kyauk Pandu” area in the south, and the losses are not yet known due to the army’s ban on civilians and even Arakan Army forces from accessing the targeted sites.
Later that same night, an army fighter jet flew over the area again after midnight without executing strikes, further escalating fear among local residents.
Local residents also reported that two Myanmar military prisoners, captured by the Arakan Army, managed to escape from Maungdaw prison on July 8 but were recaptured two days later near the village of “Thin Taung Pyin” in the city of Buthidaung.
