Military and Arakan Army clash in Buthidaung Twsp

By DMG 05 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
5 October 2022, Buthidaung

Myanmar military troops and the Arakan Army (AA) clashed between Gutar Pyin and Taung villages in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on Wednesday morning.

Both villages are occupied by Muslim residents. The clash lasted about 20 minutes and the Myanmar military provided artillery support for its ground troops during the fighting, said AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha.

“One house in Taung Village was hit by artillery and burnt down,” said the AA spokesman.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun regarding Wednesday’s fighting. Some locals said they were forced to flee their homes due to artillery strikes near Kin Chaung Village.

Residents from at least three Muslim villages and an Arakanese village fled their homes to Buthidaung town and other villages following the shelling.

A resident from the Arakanese village of Ngat Pyaw Chaung said: “We fled out of fear when they fired artillery shells following the fighting near Gutar Pyin Village. We are in Buthidaung town now.”

Also on Wednesday, at least three junta outposts in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township shelled villages and a junta fighter jet dropped bombs though there was no fighting in the area, according locals.

A resident of Pyein Taw Village who asked for anonymity said: “They fired shots while there was no fighting. A fighter jet also dropped bombs. They fired shots at random.”

Some houses were damaged by artillery strikes in Maung Phyu Village, said a local villager.

“We all fled after six shells landed on our village. Five houses were already damaged before we fled. More houses might have been damaged,” he said.

Junta artillery strikes reportedly forced residents from at least seven villages to flee their homes in Rathedaung Township.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from the Arakan State security and border affairs minister regarding the junta artillery strikes.

Thousands of people have been displaced by the renewed fighting in Arakan State’s Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships over recent months.