Arakan Army attacks BGF outpost in Maungdaw Twsp

By Admin 25 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
25 November 2023, Maungdaw

Fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) is intensifying after the ethnic armed group launched an offensive on a Border Guard Force (BGF) outpost near Kainggyi Village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, on Friday evening.

The AA attacked the BGF outpost at around 5 p.m. on November 24, and fierce clashes were reported thereafter as the military fired mortar shells.

“We still hear the sounds of heavy weapons and small arms fire,” said a local man.

More than 300 residents from Kainggyi Village fled to safer locations on November 23 before the AA launched an attack on the BGF outpost.

“We face various hardships because we left our homes. We don’t know how many days we will spend here,” a displaced woman said.

With fierce fighting ongoing, locals from nearby villages are worried about the risks of heavy weapons.

More than 600 residents of a village not far from Kainggyi are hiding in safe locations in the village as they did not have enough time to flee. [Editor’s Note: Name of village omitted for residents’ safety]

“We didn’t have enough time to flee and have been trapped in the village since the fighting. We plan to flee to safer locations due to the junta’s shelling,” said a local man.

The AA attacked the Donenyo BGF outpost in Maungdaw Township at about 10 a.m. on November 16 and occupied the BGF outpost at around 1 p.m. on November 17, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.

The Arakan Army occupied four Border Guard Force outposts within the first 10 days of the latest hostilities in Arakan State. The AA occupied the Donepaik and Cheinkharlein BGF outposts in Rathedaung Township, the Donenyo BGF outpost in Maungdaw Township and the Hkahteehla BGF outpost in Buthidaung Township in those first 10 days.

The AA also seized over 40 BGF outposts and police stations abandoned by junta troops, the ethnic armed group said in a statement on November 22.