Episode: KPN 13-08-2025 

Arakan Army Denies Rohingya Massacre

The Arakan Army (AA) has denied the accusations that it killed over 600 Rohingya in Rakhine State’s Buthidaung Township in May last year.

On Aug. 3, a Rohingya activist accused the AA of committing a massacre of Rohingya people including women and children from Htan Shauk Kham village during an attempt to seize the township.

Ro Nay San Lwin, a co-chair of the Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC), posted the photos of skeletons on social media, saying they were of people killed by the AA in Htan Shauk Kham.

But in a press conference Monday, AA spokesman Khaing Thukha denied the accusation, saying that the bodies were junta soldiers.

“If I have to respond to these accusations, I would say they are spreading smear propaganda,” he said.

He said that there was an intensive three-day battle in Htan Shauk Kham in which at least 200 soldiers from the No. 15 Military Operations Command in Buthidaung were killed.

“If you look at the photos, there are soldiers’ hats, military boots found with the bodies—there are clear indicators. The bodies in the photos are soldiers, not civilians,” he said.

The bodies were later collected and buried by the junta, though some were left unburied, he added.

The junta has recruited and trained Rohingya people and used them to defend battalion headquarters from AA attacks in northern Rakhine State.

Videos and photos have also surfaced showing junta soldiers providing military training and arms to Rohingya people in Rakhine.

In response to the AA’s denial, Ro Nay San Lwin told The Irrawaddy on Monday that his organization has more evidence, including videos and eyewitness accounts.

“Now they can deny it. Later, I believe that there will be responsibility and justice for the people who were killed,” he said.

Human Rights Watch has also accused the AA of grave abuses against the Muslim-majority Rohingya.

Since late 2023, when the AA launched a major anti-regime operation, over 400,000 people have been internally displaced, with as many as 200,000 fleeing to Bangladesh, according to the rights group.

Last month, Fortify Rights urged the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes against Rohingya civilians committed by the AA, whom it accused of serious violations of the laws of war in ad-hoc detention centers and villages under its control.

The AA controls 14 out of Rakhine State’s 17 townships, including Buthidaung, as well as Paletwa township in Chin State, and is now advancing on the state capital Sittwe and the coastal township of Kyaukphyu.

Tagged as: Burma,  Malaysia going boat,  IDP camp in Arakan,  Arakan Army,  Myanmar,  Military navy,  Kutupalong,  Cox's Bazar,  Rohingya boat people,  Maungdaw,  Military Council force,  Rakhine,  IIMM,  Rathedaung,  ARSA,  Rohingya,  war crimes,  Rohingya Refugee,  Camp schools,  Akyab,  Rohingya refugee camp,  community schools,  APBn,  RRRC,  foods shortage,  Balukhali,  Sittwe,  hungers,  Bangadesh refugee camp,  Teknaf,  ration cut,  BGP,  Burma-Bangladesh border,  Arakan,  RSO,  Buthidaung,  BGB.