Naung Min Thu, Narinjara News, 3 October 2024

Seven people, including an abbot and a monk,were taken into custody by the junta from 4-Mile Thar Yar Kone village amidheavy combat in Maungdaw Town, Arakan State. Five of those seven are stillunaccounted for, according to the villagers, while the bodies of a 78-year-oldman and a 14-year-old kid were subsequently discovered.

The people detained included U Cha Bu Aung, 78,who had escaped from neighboring Ma Kyee Kone village, as well as Abbot UThondara, monk U Nyarna Wuntha, U Tun Nu Sein, 42, U Hla Tun, 50, U Kyan Aung,60, and Maung Than Yee, 14.

Of them, U Cha Bu Aung, 78, and Maung Than Yee,14, had their bodies found; the others are still unaccounted for. The villagersthink that the people who went missing were also murdered.

"In Thar Yar Kone village, we discoveredthe bodies of two individuals who were ruthlessly murdered by the junta forces.We think they killed the abbot along with the other five. U Cha Bu Aung, a78-year-old who escaped from Ma Kyee Kone village, was one of those discovereddead. A Thar Yar Kone villager stated, "The bodies we recovered were thoseof U Cha Bu Aung and Maung Than Yee.

In 4-Mile Thar Yar Kone hamlet, on June 9, thevillagers found the decomposing bodies of U Cha Bu Aung and Maung Than Yee, asixth-grader.

The abbot and a monk are among the five peoplewho are still unaccounted for.

When fighting broke out in June, thearrested  people, according to the villagers, decided to stay in Thar YarKone hamlet rather than leave.

Now that they are back in their houses, thelocals are looking for the missing but have not discovered any more bodies.

The Maungdaw border villages of Ma Kyee Kone,Thar Yar Kone, Ngwe Taung, and Shwe Taung are close to the 2nd Border GuardPolice Battalion (NaKhaKha-2).

A junta column of about 200 troops fromMaungdaw Town's NaKhaKha-2 Battalion started invading Ma Kyee Kone village onJune 1st, causing some of the locals to escape.

On June 2, at 2:00 pm, the column resumed itsraids, this time focusing on the village of Thar Yar Kone, which led to thepeople's flight as well.

"We went to the monastery to call theabbot before we ran away. He assured us he would not be leaving. We were unableto persuade him to accompany us," a villager from Thar Yar Kone remarked.

In comparison, Ma Kyee Kone village has about170 houses and over 1,000 residents, while Thar Yar Kone village has about 70houses and over 350 people living there.

Arakanese people live in Thar Yar Kone, whereasArakanese and Chak people, an ethnic group within the Arakanese community, livein Ma Kyee Kone.

Photo: Primary school in Thar Yar Kone villageof 4-mile village-tract.