Buthidaung, Arakan State: A group of high level officers from Naypyidaw arrived in Buthidaung today at 11 am, an official in Buthidaung said.

The officials arrived in two helicopters that landed at the Tactical Operation Command (TOC), the official said.

The head of the Western Command, Brigadier General Soe Thein, arrived by boat yesterday and met the Naypyidaw officials and authorities from northern Arakan at the Military Intelligence compound near the TOC.

A local Maungdaw politician said the high-ranking officials met to discuss bilateral agreements on a highway project and a border trade zone between Burma and Bangladesh.

“The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) brought heavy construction equipment, including heavy trucks, rods, cement and other materials that were unloaded from a ship on the Mingyahlagyi stream,” the politician said.

“The SPDC officials are working very hard in Taungbro, where authorities want to open a border trade zone together with a new highway,” he added.

He added that Burmese and Bangladeshi authorities would meet tomorrow at Taungbro to lay the foundation for the trade zone.

A local resident in Buthidaung said the regime was storing much of its heavy construction equipment at the TOC before shipping it to Taungbro.