“Wounded Muslims treated in secret due to fear of leaks”

Narinjara News, June 23, 2025

Reports indicate that Muslim trainees and inexperienced civilian soldiers are being deployed on the front lines of the ongoing battle in Kyaukphyu against the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State, leading to significant casualties.

A military source informed Narinjara that the clashes in Kyaukphyu Township involve not only Muslims from the Kyauktalone IDP camp who have completed a 45-day training course but also young Muslim trainees from Sittwe who are being sent to the battlefield against the AA.

"In the ongoing battle in Kyaukphyu, both trained Muslims and untrained public militias are the most likely to suffer fatalities this month. The Muslim trainees from Kyaukphyu and those dispatched from Sittwe are being pressured by the junta to engage in combat despite lacking military experience," the source said.

They further noted that some bodies of Muslim soldiers have been discovered amid the current fighting, and testimonies from captured soldiers reveal that Muslim personnel are being utilized in the Kyaukphyu conflict.

The source also highlighted that while the military council sends its injured soldiers to public hospitals in Yangon, Sittwe, and Kyaukphyu, Muslim soldiers are being treated covertly within military camps and at the Kyaukphyu Gate due to concerns over exposure.

"If military personnel are injured, they receive treatment at hospitals in Kyaukphyu, Sittwe, and Yangon, but Muslim soldiers are denied access to these facilities. The military council is afraid the public will learn they are using Muslims in combat and that the world will see they are forcing young soldiers into battle," the source added.

Local residents report seeing armed Muslim soldiers guarding Ngala Pwe port in Kyaukphyu, raising further concerns about their involvement.

"Muslim soldiers who lost their lives in the fighting are being buried near the Kyauk Talone IDP camp, and the wounded are treated discreetly by military council battalions at the Kyauktan gate," one local noted.

When contacted, U Khaing Thukha, spokesman for the Arakan Army, did not respond to inquiries regarding the military council's use of trained Muslim youths in the Kyaukphyu battle.

U Khaing Tin Tin Maung, who was involved in establishing the Arakan Army under General Khaing Raza, stated, "The military council recruits young people from various parts of Myanmar in multiple ways. They specifically enlist Muslim youth from the areas under their control in Rakhine State and send them to the front lines without adequate training. Many do not even complete their initial training, which highlights the reckless approach of the generals and army officials who are essentially sending these young men to their deaths."

In February 2024, the local junta chief strategist personally recruited 107 young men from the Kyauk Talone Muslim refugee camp in Kyaukphyu for military training, and local residents report that these individuals are now being deployed in combat.