Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) has been heavily assaulting ‘Gawduthara,’ a Rohingya village in southern Maungdaw, since post 8:00PM tonight, the locals say.

The Rohingya village, located adjacent to Duchiradan (also known as Kilaidaung) village hit by the government-sponsored violence in January last year, came under attack as the Border Guard Police (BGP) under the commandment of Major Nyein Chan Aye tried to arbitrarily siege a Mosque where the Muslim people were offering Eeshaa (night time) prayer.

“A team of the BGP attempted to siege the mosque at ‘Karachi’ hamlet of Gawdusara village tract and arrest the devotees. Hence, the devotees started fleeing the mosque as soon as the prayer was done. Amidst the chaotic situation, a religious scholar named Hafiz Shomsul Alam (son of) Abdu Sattar, 30, got caught by the police. Therefore, other people tried to free the person from the hands of the BGP.

The BGP started firing and shooting at the people. At least for 30 times! So, people had to flee. The scholar was held and taken away. Afterwards, other government armed forces likely to be both Border Guard Police (BGP) and Military on nine trucks arrived at the village. They started raids, destruction and loots in the village” said an eyewitness asking not to be identified.

“So, since the government armed forces are targeting men, they had to flee. Only children and women remained. How many people got arrested and how many died during the firings have not been known yet. Meanwhile, the attacks on the village continue” he continued.

Locals view that the Myanmar government is blatantly manufacturing violence once more time in the region in order to divert the attention of the general Burmese people from supporting the ongoing student strikes in the mainland Myanmar. Besides, by scapegoating Rohingyas once again, the government wants to divert the Rakhine extremists’ attention from protesting against the suffrage of the white card holders in the forthcoming election (whether or not such Rakhine extremists’ protests are legal or illegal).