AA warns junta attacks could heighten tensions

By Admin 13 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
13 October 2023, Sittwe
 
The Arakan Army (AA) said some of its members were killed and injured in junta artillery strikes on its bases in Kachin State’s Laiza.
 
An AA base in Laiza and another base in Mung Lai Hkyet were hit by junta artillery strikes on September 28 and October 9, respectively, killing two AA members and wounding at least 10 others.
 
Military tensions may heighten further if there are more attacks on AA bases, said AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha.
 
“Relations will sour and tensions will heighten if attacks on AA bases increase,” said U Khaing Thukha.
 
The latest fighting in Arakan State, in 2022, was triggered by tensions resulting from the junta’s deliberate attacks on AA bases, he said.
 
Six AA troops were killed and many others were injured when the regime carried out an air raid on an AA base in an area controlled by the Karen National Liberation Army on the Myanmar-Thai border on July 4, 2022.
 
In retaliation, AA troops attacked a junta column in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township on July 18, 2022, and detained 14 junta security personnel. The attack led to a trade of arrests, and ultimately renewed fighting.
 
Observers say the regime has attacked the AA because it is not happy that the Arakan Army is fighting alongside the Kachin Independence Army and against the regime in Kachin State.
 
The Three Brotherhood Alliance said that around 28 people, including 10 children, were killed and more than 60 people were injured in a junta strike on a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mung Lai Hkyet, near Laiza, on October 9. The AA base in the Laiza area was attacked at around the same time.
 
Political analyst U Than Soe Naing predicted fighting between junta troops and ethnic armed organisations in Kachin State would intensify.
 
“The regime has been attempting to occupy the KIA headquarters at Laiza over the past two years. As it has failed, it has attacked displaced people and civilians near Laiza, which is a war crime. Military tensions will therefore definitely increase in Kachin,” he said.
 
Junta attacks on AA bases at Laiza during the ceasefire in Arakan State can undermine trust, warned former Lower House lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe.

“It is a ceasefire period now. Such strikes can harm the understanding between the two sides. They should engage in negotiation to rebuild trust.”
 
It has been more than 10 months since the regime and the AA struck an informal ceasefire agreement. However, more than 58,000 people in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State, who were displaced by fighting, remain unwilling or unable to return to their homes.