AA attacks Ngapali-based regime battalion: locals

By Admin 21 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
21 June 2024, Thandwe

The Arakkha Army (AA) has been launching an offensive against the military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 566 near Ngapali Town in Arakan State Thandwe Township since June 20, according to local residents.

Fighting is said to be fierce as the military responded to the AA assault with airstrikes and artillery attacks.

“The AA approached the military’s LIB 566. The military is defending the AA onslaught by using airstrikes and shellings. We heard gunfire in the afternoon,” a source told DMG.

Clashes are reported in some villages on a daily basis as the AA surrounds Thandwe Town.

Fighting between the military and AA has been ongoing at a location between Gawt Village and Ngapali Town since June 19, according to locals.

Civilian casualties continue to rise in Thandwe Township due to the regime’s airstrikes and artillery attacks.

Three internally displaced people (IDPs) from Hsinkhaung Village were killed and two others were injured in a junta shelling on Shwehlay Village on June 20.

“The victims were killed or injured in a mortar strike fired by the Myanmar Navy without any fighting in the area. The regime intentionally opened fire on the civilian area,” said a local resident.

Fighting has been raging in Thandwe Township for more than two months, since the Arakkha Army launched an assault on junta positions in the township on April 13.

The military’s LIB Nos. 55 and 566 in addition to the Maung Shwe Lay naval base are located in Thandwe Township. The regime has increased its military presence and prepared a defence at Thandwe Airport in the weeks following the initial clashes.