It has been reported that between 70 to nearly100 Rohingya, who were forcibly conscripted and deployed to the frontline of the conflict in Ah Ngu Maw, Rathedaung Township have been killed.
"Some reports say more than 70 people died, others say over 90 were hurt. But those claims are not true. There were casualties in Rathedaung Township, but the real number is not known ,” according to the spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA), U Khaing Thu kha who told Narinjara that he could not verify these reports.
He added that numerous Muslim youths had been conscripted by the Junta to join the ongoing clashes in Rathedaung, after receiving short military training, and some lost their lives in the conflict.
"The Junta is giving brief training to Muslim youths and sending them to fight in Rathedaung Township. We discovered some of their bodies during the fighting”, U Khaing Thu Kha said.
Sources aiding the Rohingya community disclosed to RFA that on March 12, AA attacked a vessel transporting over 120 displaced Rohingya people near Ah Ngu Maw, amidst ongoing confrontations between the Junta forces and AA.
"There was no attack on a boat carrying displaced Rohingya.The people who reported this news need to explain why they exaggerated like this. No Rohingya boats were attacked near Ah Ngu Maw”, he emphasized.
AA has seized and now holds sway over the territory extending from Ah Ngu Maw in Rathedaung Township to Buthidaung on the eastern flank of May Yu Mountain. Similarly, they have gained control over the area from Ah Ngu Maw on the western side of May Yu Mountain to Inn Din in southern Maungdaw Township.
The ongoing clashes are taking place on the eastern bank of the May Yu River, with no reported fighting on the western bank.
Reports suggest that following the enforcement of conscription laws, the Junta is apprehending Rohingya Muslim refugees from Rakhine State, and coercing then into the military.
Local Muslims reported that following the implementation of the conscription law, Rohingya youth in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyaukphyu, and Sittwe were forcibly apprehended, subjected to military training, and eventually deployed to the frontlines.
