Operation King Dragon

Operation King Dragon
Part of the Rohingya insurgency in Western Myanmar
DateFebruary – June 1978
LocationNorthern Rakhine State (Arakan)
Result Burmese government victory
Belligerents

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma

Rohingya Patriotic Front
Commanders and leaders
General Ne Win Muhammad Jafar Habib
Muhammad Yunus
Nurul Islam
Strength
1,000+[1] 70[2][3]
Casualties and losses
200,000–250,000 fled to Bangladesh[4]

Operation King Dragon, or Naga Min Sitsin Yae, was a large scale military operation in northern Rakhine State (Arakan), Myanmar (Burma), conducted during the rule of General Ne Win by the Tatmadaw.

Officially, the operation was focused on the expulsion of Rohingya insurgents in the area,[5] whom have been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the region for nearly three decades. However, other sources claim that the operation was directed against Rohingya refugees from the Bangladesh Liberation War.[6][7] This claim however, has also come into dispute, as other sources claim that they were in fact illegal immigrants.

The operation began on 6 February 1978, beginning in the village of Sakkipara in the Sittwe district, where there were mass arrests and torture of alleged collaborators and sympathizers of local insurgents. In the span of over three months, approximately 200,000 to 250,000 Muslims, mostly Rohingyas, fled to neighboring Bangladesh,[4] where the government Bangladesh offered them shelter in makeshift camps. The United Nations recognized them as refugees and began a relief operation.

References

  1. Yegar, Moshe (2002). "Between integration and secession: The Muslim communities of the Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, and Western Burma/Myanmar". Lanham. Lexington Books. p. 37,38,44. ISBN 0739103563. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  2. Pho Kan Kaung (May 1992). The Danger of Rohingya. Myet Khin Thit Magazine No. 25. pp. 87–103.
  3. "Bangladesh Extremist Islamist Consolidation". by Bertil Lintner. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 Skutsch, Carl. Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 9781135193881. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  5. Jihad: 'The ultimate thermonuclear bomb' by Pepe Escobar, Oct 2001, Asia Times.
  6. On Je suis Rohingya [#4], History and Operation King Dragon
  7. Bangladesh: The Plight of the Rohingya

See also


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