Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation | |||||||
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Part of the Rohingya conflict | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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![]() (border skirmish) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
200,000
[2]–250,000
[3]
[1] displaced (150,000 later repatriated) [4] |
Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation ( Burmese: ပြည်သာယာ စစ်ဆင်ရေး), officially known as Operation Pyi Thaya in English, was a military operation conducted by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) in northern Rakhine State, near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh. [2] [5] [6] [7] The operation took place between 1991 and 1992, [1] under the military junta of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), officially as a response to the military expansion of the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO). [3]
Similar to Operation Nagamin ( Operation Dragon King) in 1978, the government's official explanation for the operation was to expel so-called "foreigners" from the area, as well as capturing RSO insurgents. The resulting violence however, resulted in 200,000 [2] to 250,000 [3] civilians being displaced (most of whom fled to neighbouring Bangladesh) and failed to prevent further attacks by the RSO, which continued until the end of the 1990s. [5] [7]
In December 1991, Tatmadaw soldiers crossed the border and accidentally fired on a Bangladeshi military outpost, causing a brief strain in Bangladesh–Myanmar relations. [3]