A group of Burmese army personnel, who are stationed at Maha Muni temple, one of the most sacred religious places of Rakhine State, opened fire last night, which caused concern among the local people.
Talking to Narinjara News, a local resident expressed anger that the soldiers were taking shelter in the temple premises and they fired heavy and small arms in the night hours.
"We do not know the reason for firing. There are no new clashes between the military personnel and Arakan Army members taking place in our area," he added.
A Kyauk Taw resident disclosed that he heard about 20 shots of small arms and a few shots from the large weapons from the pagoda hill at 8 pm.
About 60 military personnel are now taking shelter in the temple premise. They have also made some bunkers with sand-bags to prevent any probable attack from AA members.
There is an ancient Buddha statue in the Maha Muni hill and hence the people are worried about the statue. They apprehend that if there are clashes in the hill, the statue would be affected. The army personnel should have avoided the temple hill.
Moreover, the country’s existing law does not permit the soldiers to stay in religious places as well as the school and clinics. But the Burmese army always breaks the relevant laws. The locals claimed that the Burmese soldiers take hard drinks on the pagoda hill regularly and often fire without any reason.
