Junta boss accuses AA of breaching informal ceasefire accord with Myanmar military

By Admin 30 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
30 November 2023, Sittwe

The Arakan Army (AA) has breached an informal ceasefire agreement with the military in Arakan State, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing said Thursday.

Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks during the State Administration Council (SAC) regular meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on November 29.

“The AA has breached the informal ceasefire agreement with the military and participated in the MNDAA’s offensive against the regime,” said Min Aung Hlaing, who is also Myanmar’s self-appointed prime minister.

The military and AA have been fighting in Arakan State since November 13, not long after the Three Brotherhood Alliance announced that its “Operation 1027” would be expanded nationwide.

“The Myanmar military and the AA observed an informal ceasefire on humanitarian grounds in late November 2022.  The regime did not keep its promise, and started interfering with the ULA’s administrative and judicial matters, and tightening security on locals. The regime started violating the informal ceasefire,” said U Pe Than, a politician in Arakan State.

AA spokesperson U Khaing Thukha told The Irrawaddy, a local news outlet, on November 24 that the fighting in Arakan State is based on the conflicts taking place all over the country, and that fighting has started again due to the oppression of the Arakanese people by the regime.

“For the sake of stability and peace in Arakan State, the Arakanese people need to fully cooperate with the love of the country and the desire to improve the state,” coup leader Min Aung Hlaing reportedly said at the SAC meeting held on November 29.

A local resident in Arakan State said that military conflict is occurring all over Myanmar, including Arakan State, because of the regime.

“The regime is destroying people’s lives and homes on the ground. The regime asking the public to join them is unacceptable to us. The people will not cooperate with someone who is torturing and destroying them,” said a local man in Pauktaw Township.

The AA launched attacks on junta bases in Chin State’s Paletwa Township and battled for control of Pauktaw town, the junta chief said.

The Arakan Army occupied four BGF outposts within the first 10 days of the latest hostilities in Arakan State. 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.

Civilian casualties have been a daily occurrence in Arakan State, and homes and public hospitals have been among the damages due to the junta’s indiscriminate shelling, airstrikes and drone attacks since renewed hostilities between the military and Arakan Army began on November 13.