Locals worry about possibility of further clashes after gunfire erupts in Ann

By DMG 23 May 2022

DMG Newsroom
23 May 2022, Ann 

Residents in Arakan State’s Ann Township said they were worried about clashes as gunfire was heard at around 10 p.m. on Sunday. 

For a time there was the constant sound of artillery and small arms being fired, said an activist in Ann Township. 

“I heard both heavy weapons and small arms fire yesterday night. I don’t know exactly who fired light arms and heavy weapons. In the past, there has been gunfire like this, but there has never been such a continuous shooting at night,” the activist added. 

Gunfire was reported in residential neighborhoods in Ann such as Myo Haung, Aut Ywar, Ywarthar, and near the Myanmar military’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 373 base, locals said. There were also reports of drones flying around downtown Ann and near the airport. 

“Now that the Myanmar military is conducting interrogations of residents in the villages, I am worried that there will be clashes between the two sides. I couldn’t sleep well last night because I was thinking about where I would flee,” a resident of Aut Ywar said on condition of anonymity. 

Locals in Ann are worried that the fighting could escalate into full-blown conflict because the Myanmar military’s Western Command is located in Ann.  

Locals said they feared a clash as the Myanmar military was conducting interrogations of local people on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) in some Ann Township villages.