Regime ramping up offensive manoeuvres in effort to retake military camps lost to AA in Maungdaw, Paletwa

By DMG 15 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
15 September 2022, Maungdaw  

In an attempt to retake military camps lost to the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar military has launched attacks in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, and Paletwa Township, Chin State, in recent days, according to U Khaing Thukha, spokesman for the ethnic armed group. 

The military conducted combat operations, including the use of heavy artillery and aerial bombings, on AA targets in and effort to wrestle back control of the military outposts in Maungdaw and Paletwa, he told DMG. 

The regime attacked with fighter jets at an AA-occupied border guard police outpost at Milepost No. 40 on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, and a military outpost belonging to Light Infantry Battalion No. 352, as well as military camps in Paletwa.  

The fighting is likely to intensify in Arakan State and Paletwa Township, U Khaing Thukha said. 

U Pe Than, a veteran Arakanese politician, said the Myanmar military has many weaknesses on the battlefield because the AA has cut off supply routes. 

“The regime pretends to control mainland Myanmar. I think the military regime will not be able to take control of Arakan State in the long run. This is the reason why the military junta is attempting to increase its military buildup and is sending reinforcements to Arakan State,” he explained. 

Renewed fighting in Paletwa and Maungdaw townships has intensified in recent weeks, with the AA taking control of areas in Arakan State as junta troops have retreated from positions such as the encampment at Milepost No. 40 in Maungdaw Township, which the AA seized on August 31. 

One of the latest clashes between the military and AA broke out near Mee Taik Village in Maungdaw Township at about 4 p.m. on September 15, with junta soldiers firing heavy weapons, locals said. 

“A clash erupted near Mee Taik Village this evening. The Myanmar military at Taungpyo military camp opened heavy weapons into the scene of the fighting,” said a resident of Taungpyo Village. 

Military tensions between the military and AA are running high and fighting between the two sides has been intermittent but ongoing in Maungdaw and Paletwa townships since early August.