Over 64 Innocent Civilians, Including Buddhist Monks, Killed in 4 Months by Myanmar Junta and Muslim Militants in Maungdaw

News

Global Arakan Network November 26, 2025

In the town wards of Maungdaw, Rakhine State, from May to August 2024 (a period of four months), at least 64 innocent civilians – including Buddhist monks – were brutally killed through the collaboration of Myanmar Military Council forces and members of the extremist group ARSA, according to field investigations conducted by AB News.

Troops from the Military Council’s Border Guard Police Force Base No. 5 (BGP-5), headquartered under the town administrator, joined forces with ARSA and RSO militant groups to arbitrarily arrest, torture, and murder civilians of all ethnicities and religions – including Rakhine, Hindu, and Muslim people – without discrimination.

According to statements from local residents, during the period of fighting with the Arakan Army (AA), civilians were shot dead on the streets, killed inside their homes, doused with petrol and burned alive, or forcibly taken to military camps and executed. These acts constitute continuous war crimes committed through extremely cruel methods, as uncovered during investigations.

AB News has published a detailed list and data table of those killed by the Military Council and extremist armed groups.

It has been learned that the Military Council recruited, trained, and armed ARSA and other extremist groups to defend Buthidaung and Maungdaw towns.

At the same time, thousands of civilians – including Rakhine, Muslim, and Hindu people – who had been trapped and used as human shields inside Maungdaw town by the Military Council and Muslim armed groups were successfully rescued in batches by the Arakan Army (AA) during August 2024. This was previously reported with documentation by Maungdaw-based AB News.

On December 8, 2024, the Arakan Army fully captured the BGP-5 base, taking many prisoners of war, including Major General Thuri Naing Tun, commander of Military Operations Command No. 15.

The AA announced on December 10 that more than 450 Military Council soldiers were killed during that battle.

Following this, Maungdaw town became a Military Council-free area, and the AA began establishing administrative mechanisms.

However, Islamist militant terrorist groups such as ARSA, RSO, ARA, and RIM have been infiltrating from Bangladesh into Rakhine territory in an attempt to seize Maungdaw.

These groups are operating in densely forested and mountainous areas such as Kyein Kan Pyin, Wela Taung, Kyim Chaung, Pha Wut Chaung, Taung Pyo, Nan Thar Taung, and Leit Ra Road, where they continue to carry out ambushes, shootings, and forced abductions followed by killings of civilians. Clashes with the AA are still occurring frequently.

The current documented death toll of 64 persons represents only those cases AB News has been able to verify and compile so far, covering only the town wards of Maungdaw and some areas within the township.

Local sources say that if deaths and disappearances from other villages are included, the total number of civilian deaths could be significantly higher.

source@arakanbaynews