Battle for Pauktaw enters second month

By Admin 16 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
16 December 2023, Pauktaw

It has been one month since fighting broke out between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State’s Pauktaw town on November 16 following the AA’s seizure of the central police station in Pauktaw.

The two sides have been fighting for weeks, but the intensity of the hostilities has not diminished. The two sides have been fighting daily to gain control of the town, with the regime conducting joint army, navy and air force operations.

Fighting broke out in Pauktaw on Saturday morning after Myanmar Navy vessels in the Kaladan and Kyeku rivers fired into downtown Pauktaw, an eyewitness said.

“Myanmar Navy vessels fired into Pauktaw on the morning of December 16 for about 15 minutes. Gunfire is still heard in downtown Pauktaw,” the eyewitness added.

A junta helicopter attacked Pauktaw at about 6 p.m. on December 15, according to local people.

There were civilian casualties during the Pauktaw battle, and there are still residents held hostages by the regime forces. (It remains difficult to ascertain the number of civilian casualties and arrests.)

Four residents in Pauktaw were shot dead by junta troops on November 16, according to DMG reporting. The deceased have been identified as Daw Sandar Oo, 37, U Awbartha, 76, Daw Ma Kyawt Thein, and Daw Ma Saw Mya, a junior assistant teacher.

The AA rescued more than 220 residents trapped in the fighting or being held hostage by the regime on November 21 and 23. The AA also released a video clip showing the rescue of some residents held by junta troops during the Pauktaw fighting on November 28.

Junta artillery strikes fired by a Myanmar Navy vessel in the Kaladan River reportedly caused a blaze at the Myoma Market in Ponnagyun town on November 24 that engulfed more than 300 stalls.

Thousands of local people in Pauktaw have fled to safer locations amid the battle for control of Pauktaw.

“It has been one month since fighting broke out between the Myanmar military and AA in Pauktaw town.  I still don’t know when the fighting will end. We are currently facing livelihood hardships,” said a displaced Pauktaw resident.

Pauktaw is a town that is heavily reliant on waterways and is about 16 nautical miles away from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

As Pauktaw is a centre of maritime communication, the military and the AA are in a competitive battle, according to political analysts.

A political analyst said that the issue of stopping the ongoing fighting in Arakan State, including the Pauktaw battle, can only be decided by negotiation between the two sides.

“Both sides must come to the top of the table while competing. In the end, only negotiation between the two sides will decide. There is a history of deciding the final solution only at the round table. Now, since this is a matter for the whole of Arakan, this war will not end just by conquering one town,” the political analyst explained.

The theatre of conflict has expanded into nine townships in Arakan State and Chin State after renewed hostilities between the military and Arakan Army began on November 13.

The AA seized over 140 junta bases in Arakan State during the first 45 days of the latest hostilities following ‘Operation 1027’, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.