Six persons accused of attending terrorist training were arrested alongside seven others in Buthidaung Township, northwestern Arakan State, according to the Office of the State Counsellor.
A statement from Aung San Suu Kyi’s office said that 13 persons, including six who had been apprehended while undergoing terrorist training, were arrested in the hills north of Tinn May village in Buthidaung Township on 19 March after police received a tip-off.
According to the confessions of the six trainees, terrorist or guerrilla training camps are also due to be launched in the villages of Ngamyingbaw, Yinma Kyauktaw and Innchaw Badana in northwestern Arakan, in addition to the pre-existing camp at Tinn May.
The trainees say they were instructed in martial arts, basic military training, and terrorism tactics. They reportedly confessed that they were being primed to conduct a raid on Burmese security posts. They also said they were to be provided with arms from a “neighboring country”, according to the government statement.
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On 7 March, two of the suspected militants – named as Mawlawi Adulamein and Mamed Zubai from Kyaungtaung village – were arrested under suspicion of terrorist activity, according to the State Counsellor’s Office statement. They were purportedly apprehended in a ravine where they were utilizing four makeshift huts.
The statement goes on to say that one or more of the men arrested on 19 March had admitted that a total of 36 volunteers had been indoctrinated for terrorism training, and each was to be paid 3,000 kyat (US$2.20) per day.
Tensions remain high in northwestern Arakan, also known as Rakhine, since a band of militants, thought to be composed of Rohingya Muslims, attacked border security posts on 9 October, killing nine officers.
Read State Counsellor’s Office statement HERE
