Arakan Army to retaliate as necessary against Myanmar military: AA spokesman

By DMG 03 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
3 November 2022, Sittwe

With fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army ongoing across much of Arakan State, the AA spokesman says the military’s conduct going forward will determine the ethnic armed group’s response.

“Innocent civilians and cattle in Arakan State are being killed by artillery shells fired by the military on a daily basis. We will respond to the military depending on their activities,” the AA spokesman told DMG.

At least six civilians were killed and 21 others injured by junta artillery shells last month, the AA said in a statement on November 1.

A mother, father and their 13-year-old daughter were among the latest to be killed in this way when an artillery shell reportedly fired by the military on October 31 hit their home in Pisi Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township.

U Pe Than, a former Arakan State lawmaker, said the military’s firing of heavy weapons into residential areas, oftentimes without there being any indication of fighting in the vicinity, is a violation of international law and a war crime.

DMG attempted to contact Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura and regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun for comment on the AA’s allegations, but they could not be reached.

“The escalation of fighting in Arakan State depends on the regime’s military actions. I think the AA will step up attacks on the military council,” U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, told DMG.

Renewed fighting between the military and Arakan Army has taken place with regularity since August, with clashes reported across multiple townships in Arakan State and in Paletwa Township, Chin State. From August to mid-October, the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State and Paletwa Township has increased by more than 17,000 due to the resurgence of hostilities.

In a statement on October 19, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that with those newly displaced, the total number of IDPs from past and present military-AA fighting stood at more than 91,000.