Myanmar rebel group the Arakan Army has confessed to beheading two prisoners, in a rare admission of deadly violence as it fights the ruling junta to maintain control of the country’s western borderlands.
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The incident, which “violated military discipline”, occurred in February last year during an Arakan Army (AA) offensive on Kyauktaw township in Rakhine state, according to the group’s spokesman Khaing Thu Kha.
“Our local [AA] militias were unable to control their anger and committed crimes … in retaliation for the terrorist Myanmar army soldiers who had unjustly arrested, tortured, and killed their families,” he said.
In a two-minute clip that circulated on social media, around seven men – some wearing AA uniforms and holding firearms – kicked and beat two shirtless men on the ground.
In another video, the same alleged killers were seen beheading the captives with machete-like knives.
Khaing Thu Kha admitted on Friday that the videos were authentic and the perpetrators were members of the AA ethnic armed group.
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