The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC), an organization advocating for the Bengali (described as “originally called Rohingya”) cause, released photos on August 4 showing piles of human remains, claiming that the Arakan Army (AA) had massacred more than 600 Bengalis in Htan Shauk Khan Village, Buthidaung Township.

According to ARNC, the victims — including children, the elderly, women, pregnant women, and persons with disabilities — were killed on May 2, 2024.

Survivor accounts indicated that nearly the entire village was wiped out, with only a few residents left alive. Many families were killed in their entirety. The newly released photos were reportedly taken in March 2025, but could only be obtained after some survivors managed to flee to Bangladesh. ARNC Chairman and Co-Chairman U Nay San Lwin told some exile media outlets that the images came from those who recently escaped.

AA spokesperson U Khine Thukha denied that a massacre of Bengalis had taken place in Htan Shauk Khan Village, claiming instead that the bodies shown were among roughly 200 Myanmar military troops who had died during fighting with AA forces. He said these soldiers were killed during heavy clashes in Buthidaung in May 2024, when troops from Operation Command Headquarters No. 15 retreated toward Htan Shauk Khan and were surrounded and attacked by AA for three days.

“About 200 soldiers were killed. Around 40, 50, or 100 bodies remained unburied. From the photos, you can see army boots and helmets, which prove these were soldiers’ corpses,” U Khine Thukha told exile media.

AA also cited local records showing that, before the fighting, Htan Shauk Khan Village had over 900 residents. Afterward, more than 700 remained, while the rest moved to refugee camps in Bangladesh or relocated to Yangon.

Fortify Rights reported in June that in AA-controlled areas of Rakhine State, including temporary detention centers and villages, military laws were being applied against Bengali civilians.

On August 23, 2024, 28 Rohingya advocacy groups and 115 civil society organizations released a joint statement accusing AA of killing at least 200 Bengali civilians — mostly women and children — on August 5, 2024, while they were attempting to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh to escape intense fighting near Maungdaw. The statement alleged that AA used drones and heavy artillery in the attack.

The groups also claimed eyewitnesses saw drones and artillery being launched from AA-controlled areas, and compared the incident to recent drone attacks by AA on Bengali villages in and around Maungdaw that reportedly killed dozens of civilians daily.

They further stated that after capturing Buthidaung on May 18, 2024, AA aimed to seize Maungdaw Township, and during that campaign, burned down Bengali homes and villages, killing over 2,000 civilians and committing serious human rights abuses. AA, they said, sought to blame the arson on Myanmar military airstrikes, a claim that has been widely rejected. The statement noted that AA has denied responsibility for the August 5 attack.