Myanmar’s military is warning citizens in war-ravaged Rakhine state that members of the rebel Arakan Army (AA) are impersonating government troops in a scheme to smear the government , RFA reported.

Citing several incidents that occurred in Kyauktaw and Myauk Oo townships, the military is implying that the extrajudicial apprehension of village heads, students and others, their subsequent torture, and sudden disappearance were not at the hands of the government, but were carried out by the AA.

When government forces captured an AA outpost in the hills east of the Myauk Oo-Kyauktaw highway, they claimed they found government forces uniforms and insignia. Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun from Myanmar’s military information committee told RFA’s Myanmar Service that AA soldiers use these insignia to detain and torture locals, thereby damaging the reputation of government forces in the area.