About 1,500 Burma Army troops arrived by ship in southern Maungdaw on January 7 and were then transported by truck to northern Maungdaw, according to local villagers.
The troops were seen disembarking in the morning from two naval ships at the fishing village of Alethankyaw on the southern Maungdaw coast, where they entered the Alethankyaw Border Guard Police (BGP) camp.
Locals said the troops coming to shore were wearing civilian clothes, but were carrying military equipment and were obviously soldiers.