Aizawl: Arakan Army (AA) has detained seven people inside Myanmar for alleged vandalism in Khaikhy village of Mizoram’s Siaha district on Sept 14, a source said on Saturday.AA, the most powerful ethnic armed organisation (EAO) fighting Myanmar’s military junta, operates in Rakhine and southern Chin states.U Khaing Thukha, spokesperson for the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the AA, was quoted as saying that “the root cause of the issue was drunken argument initiated by Ko Zaw Naing Linn and his fellow boatmen who felt being unfairly sidelined while waiting for their turn suspecting bias towards the Indian side.”The incident has led the Mizoram Trade Partners (MTP) to suspend trading activities with Myanmar’s Rakhine and southern Chin states. MTP general secretary N Solomon Beihlotha told TOI on the phone on Saturday that the “indefinite temporary closure” imposed by the organisation from 7pm on Wednesday was continuing.Khaikhy, located on the banks of the Salalui river along the Mizoram-Myanmar border, is a major hub for unregulated trade between businessmen from Rakhine and southern Mizoram. Most commodities transported through the village are sent to Rakhine and southern Chin.More than 100 pickup trucks carry goods to Khaikhy every day, while over 100 boats transport them from the Salalui river to Paletwa in southern Chin and other areas of Rakhine, sources said.The trade suspension is likely to severely affect people in Rakhine and southern Chin, which have remained cut off from the rest of Myanmar since the military coup. Essential commodities, including fuel, are supplied mainly from southern Mizoram.
