Junta Faces ICJ and ICC Cases While Accusing AA of Genocide Against Muslims, Says Zaw Min Tun.
In Rakhine State’s Buthidaung Township, Thandaw Khun village tract, Thanshaokhkan village, more than 600 local residents were massacred by the Arakan Army (AA), according to junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun.
While the junta itself is facing prosecution at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes committed against Muslims in Rakhine, Zaw Min Tun accused the AA of carrying out genocide.
Zaw Min Tun said:
“Initially, they [the AA] tried to shift blame onto the military for this incident. Later, they claimed the bodies were those of our soldiers. If you look closely at these contradictory statements, it becomes even clearer that they committed genocide against Bengalis. What makes it more evident is the large number of women and children among the dead.”
He claimed that in May 2024, the AA massacred over 600 residents of Thanshaokhkan village in Buthidaung Township.
AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha, however, denied the allegations at an August 11 press briefing, rejecting claims that the AA had killed more than 600 Muslims.
“Look at the photos — the helmets, the boots on the skeletal remains — those are clear evidence. The bodies shown in those photos are junta soldiers, not villagers,” Khaing Thukha said.
He explained that after junta troops retreated into Thanshaokhkan village from battles in Buthidaung, the AA launched follow-up attacks. The fighting lasted three days, during which hundreds of junta soldiers were killed.
According to Khaing Thukha, villagers had already fled before the clashes. After the battles ended, 791 residents of Thanshaokhkan returned and are now resettled in a new village site. He added that journalists wishing to verify the facts would be facilitated by the AA to visit the village.
The AA began attacking a junta base in Buthidaung Township on March 22, 2024, later surrounding other bases and seizing the regional command headquarters. At the time of the alleged Thanshaokhkan massacre, the junta no longer held control of the area, Zaw Min Tun said.
He further accused the AA of torching homes in seven wards of Buthidaung town and in Kyinlat village, and of using drones on May 17, 2024, to bomb a school sheltering displaced persons in Buthidaung town.
Zaw Min Tun also alleged that on August 5, 2024, west of Maungdaw, AA drones bombed Muslims waiting along the Naff River to escape by boat, killing over 200 people.
The junta remains on trial at the ICJ and ICC for genocide and war crimes against Muslims committed in Rakhine during 2016–2017.
