Over 1,000 Maungdaw residents flee homes out of fear for safety

By Admin 15 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
15 November 2023, Sittwe

More than 1,000 residents from some 10 villages in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, have fled their homes since Monday out of fear for their safety as junta battalions launched artillery bombardments.

“Only men are left in the villages. Almost all the women and children have fled. Some families have dug bomb shelters and they remain in their villages,” said a resident of Gyitchaung Village, which has a population of more than 300 people across 64 households.

A young girl was injured when an artillery shell landed on Thinbaw Hla Village in Maungdaw on Monday, the first day of renewed fighting in Arakan State.

The Arakan Army (AA) raided junta border guard police outposts in Cheinkalein and Donpaik villages in Rathedaung Township on Monday, ending a year-long truce. Junta battalions have since launched artillery bombardments in Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Sittwe, Ponnagyun and Minbya townships, prompting local residents to flee.

In Maungdaw Township’s Wetkyein Village, more than 100 of the village’s 300 residents have fled out of fear for their safety.

“We fled out of fear that artillery shells may hit our village if fighting happens,” said a resident of Wetkyein.

On Tuesday morning, the AA attacked junta troops near Kanpyin Thazi Village in Maungdaw Township after they refused to surrender. Five junta soldiers were killed and some others were injured, the AA said.

The AA also ambushed a junta convoy near the 6th Mile checkpoint in Maungdaw, resulting in an exchange of fire that lasted more than 10 minutes, said residents. The regime fired artillery shells following the ambush, forcing locals nearby to flee their homes.

Eight civilians were killed and at least 30 others injured on Monday and Tuesday as regime battalions carried out indiscriminate shooting and shelling in response to AA attacks.