A/HRC/42/CRP.5 year old pagoda known as the Rakkha Muni Pagoda which is located inside a monastery compound.636 This firing also caused damage to the face, arm and stomach of a Buddha statue located inside the monastery compound.637 Photographs the Mission received of the damaged Buddha are consistent with the testimony.638 It was reported that, on 18 March 2019, the Myanmar Archaeologist Research Association requested that Mrauk-U be declared a no-war zone.639 283. The Mission also received information that the Tatmadaw placed artillery around Mrauk-U in proximity to historical monuments, namely the Nibuzar pagoda, the Shwe Taung pagoda and the Ratanamanaung pagoda.640 The positioning of this artillery exposed the ancient town of Mrauk-U and its monuments to AA counter-attacks. The firing of artillery from such close proximity to those monuments also endangered them by producing significant damaging vibrations, according to archaeologists and experts.641 The media reported that soldiers also damaged historical structures when they “dug up trenches and used stones from ancient monuments as bunkers”. 642 One resident of Mrauk-U observed in March 2019: “Every day now the Tatmadaw shoot big weapons towards the pagoda. At the moment people cannot pay homage at the pagodas. Some pagodas have been destroyed by the weapons.”643 284. In a series of statements posted on its official website, the Tatmadaw claimed that the shooting in Mrauk-U town on 18 March 2019 was in response to an AA attack from civilian houses and from both sides of the road.644 According to the media, earlier in the evening the AA attacked a Tatmadaw convoy on a road from Sittwe to Mrauk-U. However, that attack was approximately 30 kilometres from where the Tatmadaw opened fire on the town of Mrauk-U.645 The Mission found no indications of an AA presence in the town of Mrauk-U or that the Tatmadaw came under attack there, including in the wards through which the convoy passed.646 285. At approximately the same time that the Tatmadaw convoy opened fire as it drove through Mrauk-U town, security forces also attacked the Rakhine village of Ywar Haung Taw located on the eastern outskirts of Mrauk-U town.647 Tatmadaw officials claimed that “AA terrorists attacked a military convoy, while the convoy was marching into Mrauk-U 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 88 LI-214, BNI Multimedia Group, “Local people in Mrauk-U remain scared after shooting in town” (20 March 2019), Nay Win San, “One Gunshot One Voice” (Development Media Group, 1 April 2019). LI-214, Photographs on file with mission. Ibid. Zeyar Hein, “Archaeologists urge no-fire zone at Mrauk-U site” (The Myanmar Times, 20 March 2019). FFFGEN-1555826851-1890. Radio Free Asia, “Archaeologists Want Myanmar Army to Remove Heavy Guns From Ancient Rakhine Temple Complex” (12 April 2019). Ibid. LI-165. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, "Three AA Violent Insurgents Detained in Pan Myaung Village, Mrauk-U Township" (25 March 2019), available at: http://cincds.gov.mm/node/2255; The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, "Tatmadaw gave necessary support to local ethnic civilians injured during the attack by the AA violent insurgents to the Tatmadaw columns within ancient cultural region of Mrauk-U town" (25 March 2019), available at: http://cincds.gov.mm/node/2260. The Irrawaddy, “Reporter’s Notebook: On the Ground in Mrauk-U” (1 April 2019); See also the conflict news from the Arakan Army: http://archive.fo/h47K6 LI-183, LI-214, Amnesty International, No one Can Protect Us: War Crimes and Abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, (May 2019), p.16, The Irrawaddy, “Reporter’s Notebook: On the Ground in Mrauk-U” (1 April 2019). LI-214, PI-167, See also : The Irrawaddy, “Reporter’s Notebook: On the Ground in Mrauk-U” (1 April 2019), The Irrawaddy, “Shelling Injures Two Civilians in N. Rakhine, Villagers Say” (18 April 2019), Amnesty International, No one Can Protect Us: War Crimes and Abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, (May 2019), p.16.