5/22/22, 8:02 PM Spin, lies and social media obscure crisis in Myanmar - Asia Times The newly emergent armed group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) staged armed attacks on an estimated 30 police outposts and an army regimental base in the Rakhine Townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Yathedaung on August 25, timed to coincide with the previous day’s release of the long-anticipated Kofi Annan-led Rakhine Advisory Commission report. Twelve policemen, a soldier and civilian officials were casualties in the original attack, with state media estimating over 100 suspected militants were also killed. The Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, deployed hundreds more troops to the area and resumed a violent ‘area clearance operation’, similar to the one mounted after October 9, 2016 attacks by Rohingya militants on border police outposts. In the last week, the International Organization on Migration (IOM) has estimated over 20,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh, joining an estimated 87,000 who fled over the past several months. Several thousand ethnic Rakhine, Myanmar, and Mro have been evacuated or fled to the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe, or are internally displaced in the area. Rohingya refugees walk along the Kutupalang Unregistered Refugee Camp, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, August 30, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain The government alleges that ARSA’s Muslim fighters have attacked several villages and staged massacres of Mro and Hindu people, including the slashing deaths of several children, and have set fire to many Buddhist and Hindu homes. Human Rights Watch released satellite imagery showing extensive arson in the area, with some government officials estimating over 2,500 houses have been torched. https://asiatimes.com/2017/09/spin-lies-social-media-obscure-crisis-myanmar/ 2/9