The Arakan Army releases 52 villagers

02 August 2019
The Arakan Army releases 52 villagers
A sign welcomes visitors to Paletwa township in Chin State.

The Arakan Army on Thursday released 52 ethnic Khumi villagers from western Myanmar’s Chin state detained for six months in a border camp after soldiers took them from their community following a battle with government troops, the AA and a local pastor said according to an RFA report.

At the time of the clash in early February, a Khumi organization in the region demanded the release of the villagers whom it said had been abducted by the AA.

But the AA denied taking take the civilians by force, saying it had helped them flee to safety at their own request after the fighting near Kintalin village in Chin’s Paletwa township ended.

Local residents disagreed with the AA’s version of events, saying that after its soldiers arrived in Kintalin village, they ordered the villagers to gather at a church and forced them to leave when they told them that the Myanmar military would soon bomb the community.