Operation King Dragon

Operation King Dragon
Part of the Rohingya insurgency in Western Myanmar
Date February – June 1978 (5 months) Location Northern Arakan, Burma Result Burmese government victory
Belligerents
Burma	Rohingya Patriotic Front
Commanders and leaders
Ne Win	Muhammad Jafar Habib Muhammad Yunus Nurul Islam
Strength
1,000+[1]	70[2]
Casualties and losses
200,000–250,000 fled to Bangladesh[3]

Operation King Dragon, also known as Operation Nagamin (Burmese: နဂါးမင်း စစ်ဆင်ရေး) was a large scale military operation conducted by the Tatmadaw in northern Arakan, Burma (present-day northern Rakhine State, Myanmar), during the rule of General Ne Win.^[4]

Officially, the operation was focused on the expulsion of Rohingya insurgents in the area,^[5] who 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 sympathisers of local insurgents. In the span of over three months, approximately 200,000 to 250,000 Muslims, mostly Rohingyas, fled to neighbouring Bangladesh,^[3] where the government Bangladesh offered them shelter in makeshift camps. The United Nations recognised them as refugees and began a relief operation.

References

See also

• Internal conflict in Myanmar
• Rohingya insurgency in Western Myanmar