Rural populations in two Arakan State townships urged to be on alert

By Admin 05 Jan 2024

DMG Newsroom
5 January 2024, Sittwe

The Three Brotherhood Alliance issued a statement on January 4 asking residents of the villages bordering Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships in Arakan State to live with military alert.

The statement said the villages that require military alert include Wahbo and Nyoyaungchaung in Sittwe Township, and Kuntaung, Sabahtar, Aidin and other villages in Ponnagyun Township.

Thousands of local people from the aforesaid villages have fled to safer locations.

“No one remains in the village and all residents have fled to safer locations. The regime will attack our village and nearby areas, according to sources close to the military. We have been told to flee our homes in time as the military plans to attack our villages. The Arakan Army also informed us about the news,” said a local woman in Wahbo Village.

A 12-year-old boy in Wahbo Village was injured in a drone attack launched by the military on December 10.

Hundreds of locals from Kuntaung Village in Ponnagyun Township have fled to safer locations while some remain in the village as guards.

The military’s Pardalaik Village-based regiments have fired mortar shells into Kuntaung Village in recent days, said a villager.

Local residents in Ponnagyun Township’ Sabahtar Village said they are planning to flee their homes due to the possibility of fresh fighting near the village.

“We saw a statement warning local people to flee, but we are not informed yet. We don’t know where to flee,” said a resident of Sabahtar Village.

Fierce fighting between the military and AA has been ongoing across at least 14 townships in Arakan State and the number of people displaced by the fighting has risen to nearly 200,000, according to figures compiled by civil society organisations.