AA attacks junta troops deployed at Ponnagyun railway station, locals say

By DMG 15 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
15 November 2022, Ponnagyun

The Arakan Army (AA) attacked junta soldiers deployed at a railway station east of Kuntaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, at about 7 a.m. on Tuesday, according to locals.

About 70 junta soldiers from the military’s Sittwe-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 232 have been deployed at the railway station for three months, a resident of Kuntaung Village told DMG.

“Some members of the AA launched an attack on the junta soldiers this morning, leading to an exchange of gunfire. The clash lasted for about 20 minutes and the military suffered heavy casualties. Mortar shells were fired from the military’s LIB No. 232 based in Pardalaik Village during the hostilities,” the resident said.

Local resident Ko Zaw Win Tun sustained shrapnel wounds to his chest and arms after a mortar shell fired from the military’s LIB No. 232 landed and exploded near a crab wholesale shop west of Kuntaung Village, another resident said.

“The military’s LIB No. 232 fired three mortar shells into the village and one of the shells landed and exploded near a crab wholesale. He [Ko Zaw Win Tun] received shrapnel wounds and was admitted to Sittwe Hospital. Two mortar shells landed outside the village,” he added.

Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura and regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment.

When DMG phoned U Khaing Thukha, spokesperson for the AA, for comment on the military’s shelling, he said he was not aware of the matter.

Two men were killed by an artillery strike in Diparyon Village, Ponnagyun Township, on the morning of November 11.

At least 5,000 people from several villages in Ponnagyun Township have fled to safer locations since November 10 due to the military’s firing, shelling, and raids.

Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army flared anew in August and has continued in the months since, with armed hostilities taking place in several Arakan State townships and in neighbouring Chin State’s Paletwa Township.