AA attacks military’s Western Command HQ in Ann Twsp

By Admin 11 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
11 April 2024, Ann

The Arakan Army (AA) began attacking the military’s Ann-based Western Command headquarters with heavy weapons on the evening of April 9.

Casualties were reported and some buildings were destroyed after mortar shells fired by the AA landed and exploded in the compound of the military’s Western Command headquarters and No. 8 communications battalion in Ann.

“The AA attacked the military’s Western Command headquarters and No. 8 communications battalion in Ann simultaneously, injuring a colonel from the communications battalion. The colonel was hospitalised and died at the military hospital the next day,” a source in Ann told DMG.

Fighting between the military and AA has escalated in Ann Township since March 24. Thousands of local people from at least two dozen villages in Ann Township have fled to safer locations due to rising tensions between the military and AA in the area.

Local people are concerned for their safety as the besieged Western Command headquarters and   No. 8 communications battalion are located near civilian areas.

“Residents are worried that the fighting will erupt in urban areas. We need money to flee the fighting. Even if you have money, you cannot easily flee the fighting as the regime blocked off all routes to Ann,” said another resident in Ann.

The AA has been launching attacks on military camps and junta outposts including the Tawhein tactical command base near Kazukaing Village in Ann Township.

The AA on April 2 declared an indefinite emergency closure of the vital transport road linking Ann Township to Padan Village in central Myanmar’s Ngape Township, Magway Region, until further notice.

DMG continues to attempt to contact AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha and Arakan State military council spokesperson U Hla Thein regarding the matter.