The Arakan Army released a statement yesterday denouncing the statement of the Tatmadaw alleging the AA of running away after starting fires in Nwa Yon Taung village in Buthidaung Township.

The fire in the village occurred on 13 July and the Tatmadaw on 14 July issued the statement in which it said that an AA troop burned two houses, a pigsty and a cattle-pen after an encounter with the Tatmadaw near Nwa Yon Taung village.

The AA responded that the Tatmadaw’s statement was “a false allegation.”

In its statement, the AA also said that since the Internet has been cut off it’s easy to make false claims and the announcement by the Tatmadaw was a contemptable gesture against the AA.

The Tatmadaw said in its statement that the AA was conducting military operations near villages, and they set fire to villages when they were put in a disadvantage. So, the AA claimed that the Tatmadaw was responsible for the fires so they could continue its military operations in the region to maintain stability and security. The rhetorical tactics used by the Tatmadaw are nothing new, the AA said in a statement that the Tatmadaw shifted the blame when Muslim villages were torched in the Maungdaw region.

A villager who asked anonymity told the DMG that a military column set fire houses in Nwa Yon Taung village.

The U.S’s State Department has announced in the evening of 16 July that it has imposed travel sanctions on Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Vice Senior-General Soe Win, Maj-Gen Than Oo, Major Aung Aung and their immediate family members for involvement in gross violations of human rights including in extrajudicial killings in northern Arakan State during the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Arakan State, according to a news released by the RFA.

The announcement said that there were continued reports of the Myanmar military committing human rights violations and abuses throughout the country.