Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Arakan Army (AA) of massacring Rohingya civilians in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State in a new report released today. HRW alleges the ethnic armed group killed at least 170 people, including scores of children, during an attack on a village in 2024.
In the report, “Skeletons and Skulls Scattered Everywhere”, released on 19 May, the rights group said AA soldiers opened fire on Rohingya villagers fleeing clashes with Myanmar junta troops near Hoyyar Siri village in Buthidaung Township on 2 May 2024.
HRW said survivors described scenes of mass killing as villagers carrying white flags attempted to escape fighting between advancing AA forces and retreating junta soldiers.
“They opened fire on the villagers from a distance of only five feet,” one survivor, identified as Kobir Ahmed, told the organisation, recounting how his wife and three children were killed in the attack.
The report said the death toll could be substantially higher than the confirmed figure of 170. Rohingya activists estimate up to 500 people may have been killed. HRW said at least 90 children were among those confirmed dead or missing.
The rights group said its findings were based on interviews with 41 witnesses, corroborated by satellite imagery, photographs, videos, and geolocation analysis.
According to the report, villagers became trapped between conflicting orders from the Myanmar military and the AA in the days before the massacre. Junta troops allegedly ordered residents to remain in the village and threatened to burn homes if Rohingya men refused forced recruitment. The AA warned the same villagers to evacuate the area.
Human Rights Watch said the AA subsequently burned Hoyyar Siri village, looted civilian property, and detained survivors in camps where they faced severe restrictions, forced labour, and inadequate access to food and healthcare.
The AA’s political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), denied targeting civilians and said its fighters had “strictly adhered to the international laws of war and the Geneva Conventions”.
Human Rights Watch rejected those claims, concluding that the Arakan Army committed “grave violations amounting to war crimes”, including deliberate attacks on civilians, unlawful detention, torture, arson, and looting.
The report also criticised the Myanmar military for failing to protect civilians and for forcibly recruiting Rohingya men and boys amid escalating fighting in northern Rakhine state.
Human Rights Watch urged the international community to press both the junta and the Arakan Army to end abuses against civilians and allow humanitarian access to affected communities in Rakhine State.
