The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) has strongly condemned what it calls a mass atrocity committed by the Arakan Army AA, following the brutal killing of more than 600 Rohingya civilians in Htan Shauk Khan village locally known as Hoinya Seeree in Buthidaung Township on May 2, 2024.
In a statement issued Monday, the ARNC accused the AA of carrying out systematic and deliberate killings of children, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities many of whom were reportedly burned alive or executed at close range. Survivors and eyewitnesses say the massacre was preceded by accusations from AA fighters that the villagers were linked to the Myanmar military, after which the executions began and bodies were burned in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.
This atrocity is further proof of the AA’s ongoing campaign of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya people, the ARNC said, labeling the incident as part of a broader pattern of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine Arakan State.
Rights group Fortify Rights has also reportedly documented and verified hundreds of deaths through survivor testimonies and physical evidence, including skeletal remains of children. Satellite imagery and recently surfaced photographs show widespread destruction of the village and surrounding areas.
Despite mounting evidence, the Arakan Army continues to deny the allegations and has refused independent investigations, prompting criticism from rights advocates who say this impunity is allowing systematic violence to escalate.
Critics argue that the AA, once seen as an ethno nationalist force resisting Myanmar’s military has crossed a dangerous line by targeting civilians of another marginalized ethnic group. There is no legitimate resistance in genocide, the ARNC stated. Targeting Rohingya civilians under the pretext of fighting the military is both immoral and unlawful.
The ARNC urged the International Criminal Court ICC and other global institutions to launch immediate investigations and hold those responsible accountable. It also warned that continued silence from the international community would amount to complicity in the unfolding genocide.
The world cannot look away while entire communities are being erased, the statement concluded.
As conflict deepens in western Myanmar, the situation for Rohingya civilians trapped between warring forces continues to deteriorate, with limited humanitarian access and growing fears of further atrocities.
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