Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) has rescued eleven stranded villagers on Tuesday from Tayet Byin locality in the southeastern part of Buthidaung, which is 80 miles north of Arakanese capital city of Sittwe.

U Kyaw Myint Wai, in charge of MRCS in Buthidaung, informed that a team went to Tayet Byin village to rescue those villagers stranded due to encounters. The team started at around 9 am by a car after the MRCS received permission from the township authority to travel to that locality.

“When we reached Sai Din bridge near to the village, the security forces handed over 11 villagers to us and we brought them to the IDP camp at Buthidaung Landma monastery,” said U Kyaw Myint Wai.

Those 11 villagers, including three women, had stranded in the village since 5 October last as Arakan Army(AA) members started attacking the security forces (Tatmadaw) at Sai Din bridge locality located between Buthidaung and Rathidaung township.

Most of the Tayet Byin residents ran away from the village as the fighting continued between Tatmadaw and AA. Only few elders and children remained in the village.

“We remained in our village for two days and faced many difficulties. The security personnel closely watched our activities. So we could not even use our bathrooms on time. We were also concerned about our security,” said one of the rescued women.

MRCS in Buthidaung and ICRC have rescued over  50 stranded villagers from various localities under Buthidaung township on different occasions, claimed U Kyaw Myint Wai.

Now Buthidaung Landma monastery gives shelter to 692 individuals including 374 females hailing from rural areas in its IDP camp.