2019 Buthidaung raids

The raids took place around 6:45 am on January 4, Myanmar's independence day, in a remote area of northern Buthidaung Township.^[1][3] Burmese state media stated 350 AA fighters took part in the raids, with 100 attacking Ngamyinbaw police outpost, 100 at Kyaungtaung outpost, 100 at Khahtihla outpost, and 50 at Gokepi police outpost.^[4] Burmese reinforcements were called into the outposts immediately; columns from the 8 Border Police Company and Tatmadaw reached Gokepi first at 9:20 a.m, Khahtihla at 9:30 a.m., Ngamyinbaw at 9:35 a.m., and Kyaungtaung at 12:15pm.^[4] Burmese artillery began shelling the Gokepi and Khahtihla outposts at 7:30am, and AA fighters were forced to abandon trying to capture them.^[4] Ngamyinbaw and Kyaungtaung were captured by the AA, with the group later abandoning all four outposts and heading east.^[3]

An abbot who witnessed the attacks in one of the villages stated that he heard gunshots, and that seven houses were burned down by the AA.^[1] Many civilians fled the villages where the raids took place, fearing a renewed outbreak of clashes.^[3] The AA killed thirteen police officers and injured nine others, along with taking fourteen policemen and four civilians hostage.^[1][3] Forty weapons and 16,000 rounds of ammunition were also seized by the AA.^[3] The hostages were released on January 5.^[3][2] The Burmese government deployed a helicopter to the area on January 6 to evacuate wounded policemen.^[1]

Around 4,500 civilians were forced to sleep in monasteries to flee the attacks.^[5] The Burmese NLD government ordered the military, for the first time ever, to launch clearance operations in the areas surrounding the police outposts. The Tatmadaw stated that between January 5 and 16, thirteen AA fighters were killed, but did not disclose its own losses.^[3] Government spokesman Zaw Htay accused the attackers of having ties to the jihadist Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), despite the AA claiming responsibility for the attack.^[3][2][6] However, ARSA took responsibility for a January 16 ambush initially attributed to AA that injured six policemen.^[3]

The European Union condemned the attacks, but called on the Burmese government to extend the ceasefire to Rakhine State.^[7] China also condemned the attacks.^[8]