Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
A group of farmers in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, western Myanmar, discovered the beheaded body of a Rohingya motorcycle driver just hours after he was arbitrarily detained by a member of the Buddhist Arakan militia (Arakan Army) near the militia’s base in “Kin Chaung” village on September 21.
Eyewitnesses told Arakan News Agency that the victim was Abu Taher (24), from “Bagoni Nah Taung Ywa” village, noting that his arrest was carried out by Aung Naing Oo, one of the most notorious and feared members of the militia, stationed near what is locally known as the “Buthidaung Administration Base – Section 6.”
They said the victim worked as a motorcycle taxi driver and had left his village on the day he disappeared to go to “Nyaung Chaung” village for work but never returned home. His parents said they searched for him at the militia base the following day, but the officials there denied holding him, despite eyewitness accounts confirming his arrest.
According to local residents, Aung Naing Oo forced three Rohingya men to bury Abu Taher’s body in a rice field, while his motorcycle was later found in “Kin Chaung” village. Residents described this militia member as “the most brutal” among the forces that seized control of the township in early 2024.
In a separate incident two days later, on September 23, a Rohingya man was severely beaten and robbed by armed men from “Nga Bi Chaung” village while on his way to buy chickens for his business. They stole 700,000 kyats (about USD 160) before a Rakhine woman intervened, allowing him to keep only 150,000 kyats.
The victim filed a complaint at the “Militia Base – Section 6” and was taken to a hospital for treatment. However, villagers reported that two militia members later went to “Gu Da Bin” and “Nga Bi Chaung” villages to threaten local residents, raising fears of ongoing abuses against the Rohingya in the area.
Under the control of the Arakan Army, the Rohingya have suffered widespread abuses, including the closure of their homes after false accusations, confiscation of valuable property, forced displacement of many families, and severe restrictions on their movement between villages enforced by a network of security checkpoints at the entrances and exits of almost every Rohingya village.
The Arakan militia launched a military offensive in November 2023 against Myanmar’s army to seize control of the state, eventually capturing 14 out of 17 townships. The conflict has engulfed the Rohingya, who have faced violence, forced displacement, and persecution from both sides after already suffering a campaign of “genocide” by the Myanmar military in 2017 that drove nearly one million to flee to Bangladesh.
