Arakan Army soldiers continue extortion in Chin State

09 February 2016 — Soldiers of the Arakan Army have been extorting food from villagers in Paletwa township, Chin State for months, according to local residents.

The Khumi Media Group said that about 15 AA members had entered Ngating village last Sunday and forcibly taken six bags of rice and five cigarette packages.

It added that around 50 AA soldiers had arrived in Satchaung-wa village at about 8am last Thursday and had extorted two bags of rice and other goods worth about 145,000 kyats.

“They didn’t pay for them. They just took them from us and walked away,” a resident in Satchaung-wa village told the KMG.

The KMG reported that 11 bags of rice and one chicken had forcibly been exacted from Saihtha villagers by another group of AA members on 2 February.

On 25 January this year at Pyin-wa, AA soldiers killed a cow, which was estimated to be worth about 700,000 kyats, and left the village without giving money to the cattle owner.

Last Friday, there was a clash between AA and Burma Army soldiers near Hung village.

The Chin National Front and Chin civil society groups called on the Arakan Army for an immediate end to its operations in Chin State where hundreds of villagers have been displaced by conflict between soldiers from AA and Burma Army.#