Thousands displaced by military-AA hostilities in Thandwe Twsp

By Admin 27 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
27 April 2024, Thandwe

Thousands of local people have been displaced by recent fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakkha Army (AA) in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, according to residents.

Upwards of 10,000 local people from about a dozen villages such as Purit, Dawmya Supotegon, Phayarmaw, and Chinkwin in Thandwe Township were forced to flee their homes by junta shellings and airstrikes.

“We dare not live in our village. We fled to safer locations amid various dangers due to fierce fighting. We brought nothing,” said a displaced person from Yaykauk Village.

The displaced people are in urgent need of food, accommodation and drinking water and they are currently being fed by locals from the villages where they are currently taking refuge.

Fierce clashes between the military and AA have been reported near Shwehlay, Supotegon, Phayarmaw, Dawmya and Kyaunggon villages, about 10 miles from the Thu Htay Chaung hydropower project, since April 13.

A deputy battalion commander and a captain of the regime were among junta soldiers killed in the fighting in Thandwe Township on April 26, according to a reliable source.

“No gunfire was heard today. Fierce clashes between the military and AA erupted in Thandwe yesterday, with the military using heavy weapons and jet fighters. The regime forces reportedly suffered heavy casualties in the clash with the AA yesterday,” said a local in Thandwe.

Nearly 157,000 people have been displaced in Arakan State since renewed fighting broke out between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakkha Army (AA) on November 13, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said on April 4.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) are facing various difficulties such as lack of food, shelter, medicine and drinking water.