Civilian Casualties and other data

The past 20 days of armed clashes in November claimed the lives of at least 36 civilians in Rakhine State. The civilian fatalities occurred at the highest rate in Maungdaw township with 13 deaths and it is followed by the Ponnagyun township in which 12 people died. Then, it is the Kyauktaw township with 8 deaths and followed by Buthidaung and Sittwe with 2 and 1, respectively. But, the key reasons for the civilian deaths are not mostly due to the active exchange of gunfire or armed fighting between the two groups, but rather due to the random artillery shellings of the junta forces and intentional killings of the civilian people. Two key incidents confirmed this claim. The first event happened on November 8 in Hsininngyi village of Ponnagyun township, where the junta forces killed the rest 9 villagers by shooting intentionally when other villagers were displaced due to the mine explosion by the AA and retaliatory attacks by the junta forces. Then, the second incident occurred when ten residents were killed after three mortar shells landed and exploded in Jeitchaung (Mro) Village in Maungdaw Township at around 12 PM, November 16, 2022. Some sources said that the villagers were killed due to the artillery shelling from the junta military of No (24), Kyeinchaung checking gate and Border Guard Police Force, NaKaKa (7). Among the civilian deaths, there were 30 males and 6 females ranging from a 6 months-old infant to a 92 years-old grandma.

Related to the information on civilian injury, at least 59 people can be reported as injured due to armed conflicts or random artillery shelling of the junta forces. Like the causality figures, the highest rate of civilian injury is also occupied by the township of Maungdaw due to the Jeitchaung village incident with 27 injuries. Then, it is followed by the Kyauktaw with 14 as 9 civilians from Shwepyi, and Shwepyithit villages of Kyauktaw township injured in the same incident on November 11, 2022. Other events of civilian injury occurred in Buthidaung, Mrauk-U, Sittwe and Paletwa with 3, 2, 1, and 1, respectively.

Aside from these two categories, at least 7 people (6 males and 1 female) were also found on the lists of disappearance or missing. At Kyeinchaung security checkpoint in Maungdaw township, 2 persons were missed due to the investigation, while other incidents occurred differently at the checkpoint of the junta forces in Kyauktaw, due to the fleeing from the junta military raid in Ponnagyun townships and other separated cases.

Then, at least 73 civilians have been arrested mostly by the junta forces during November related to the armed conflict and politics. In this month, the townships of Sittwe and Ponnagyun stood as the first and second highest rate of civilian arrests in 21 and 16, respectively. And it was followed by Kyaukphyu, Thandwe and Minbya with 11, 7 and 7 in order. The rest also happened in other townships like Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Ann. Overwhelmingly, 72 out of 73 arrested civilians are men of various ages ranging from around 20 to over 50s. One female individual arrested is a 44 years-old woman from Kyaukphyu who worked as a government employee. In the three weeks of armed clashes and arrests, the number of arrested cases is the highest in the second week, with 40 cases for one week. Since more than 95 per cent of the civilian arrested cases was carried out by the junta forces, the AA also engaged in two events during November. The first one is related to the arrest of Kyaw Zaw Oo, the vice-chairman of the Arakan Front Party (AFP), and the second case is about a police officer from Taunggok. Next, the backgrounds of the arrested individuals also vary, ranging from the government staff, administrators, business, and university students to ordinary civilians.