Rakhine leaders speak on gunfire in Malaysia

The attack took place on Wednesday night after 11 p.m., Malaysian standard time. Two armed men on a motorcycle opened fire at the car ridden by Aye Thar Aung (chairperson of the Arakan League for Democracy), Aye Maung (chairperson of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party), and Hla Myint (central executive member of the Arakan League for Democracy).

Three 9-millimetre bullets hit the car, one on the side and two on the back, but no one was injured, according to the Rakhine leaders.

Hla Myint said that both gunmen were wearing helmets and the motorcyclist had mid-length hair and a beard. The bullets were fired at close range, and after the first gunshot the motorcyclist was heard shouting “Fire! Fire!” in Bamar with a slight accent.

While they were visiting Malaysia, the Rakhine leaders had a team of security men who were following their car in another vehicle. On the night of the incident, the leaders were leaving Law Yatt Plaza after having dinner but their car got separated from the security car as they were parked on different floors. A young security man was also in the car with the leaders when it was fired on by the gunmen. The gunmen started firing on the left side of the car, where Aye Maung was sitting. He narrowly escaped death after the bullet hit the window seal instead of the window, according to Aye Maung.

The Rakhine leaders were invited by the Malayisa Arakan Organisation to attend the “Political Reforms in Myanmar and the Politics of the Rakhine State” seminar, which was held on Tuesday.

Aung Gyi, one of the 88 Generation leaders who attended the seminar, was stabbed to death with a screwdriver on Wednesday morning. Malaysian police intelligence had come to warn the leaders on the evening before the shooting incident took place.

“We cannot decide whether these two incidents are related or not as they are still under investigation. CID and other weapon experts have come to see us….They told me that this kind of incident has never happened in Malaysia before. So, they are still investigating it. Whether our case is related to Aung Gyi’s case or not will be known after we investigate this case or when we know more about Aung Gyi’s case,” said Aye Maung.

Based on comments made by Malaysian police, Aye Maung said that more than 85,000 Rakhine people have migrated to Malaysia and more than 35,000 of them are from Maungdaw and Buthidaung. The Malaysian police have warned the Rakhine leaders to be aware of the migrants and they will cooperate with them if the leaders have received threatening mail or e-mails. The police have also told them that this attack may have been related to the violence in Myanmar.