MAUNGDAW, Arakan State—Burma’s Minister of Home Affairs has replaced the Border Guard Force police chief of Maungdaw Township over the recent fatal attacks on three border guard outposts in the area.
The Minister, Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, told the media that he had appointed Thura San Lwin as a successor to Maung Maung Khin during a tour to the township in northern Arakan State on Monday.
“I am really not pleased with what happened, so I replaced the leadership at once,” he said.
“I have appointed a person who I can trust,” said the minister. “He [Thura San Lwin] has experience from fighting Communist armed groups and he will be in charge of operations.”
The minister vowed that “we will do our best to provide security for local people.”
Fatal attacks on border guard police posts on Oct. 9, followed by a manhunt focused on Maungdaw Township, has led to several dozen deaths among police, Burma Army soldiers and militants suspected of looting 51 guns and thousands of ammunitions from the three outposts.
On Friday, Burma President’s Office announced that the attacks were reportedly masterminded by a Taliban-trained militant with an affiliation to the long-defunct Rohingya Solidarity Organization.
Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe said on Monday that 16 suspects have been detained and are being interrogated. Based on intelligence from interrogations, the army and police will launch more military operations in northern parts of Maungdaw, where other suspects are believed to be hiding.
“The government has an obligation to bring all the looted weapons back,” he said. “Therefore there will be more operations in northern Maungdaw,”
