Battle for control of Taungup rages on

By Admin 09 Nov 2024

DMG Newsroom
9 November 2024, Taungup

Fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakkha Army (AA) is escalating in Arakan State’s Taungup, where the regime’s No. 5 Military Operations Command is based.

Fighting between the military and AA is intensifying in Taungup Township as the ethnic armed group has been carrying out an offensive against the military’s Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 346 and 544, about one mile from Taungup Town, since November 7.

“The AA is attacking two junta battalions in Taungup. We heard the sound of heavy weapons in the morning. The regime is responding to the AA attacks with aerial support,” said a source.

The AA has surrounded the junta battalions and military camps in Taungup Township for several months and resumed its offensive against junta positions in Taungup in the last week of October.

The AA captured a junta artillery battalion on Mt. Pan Myauk and the University of Taungup on November 3. Fighting is fierce as the AA continues to attack the remaining junta battalions in Taungup.

Along with the intensity of the fighting, the regime’s airstrikes and artillery attacks triggered explosions in some parts of the city, raising the concerns of residents.

“An artillery shell fired by the military hit a motorbike repair shop in Taungup. Residents in urban Taungup are worried about their safety due to the regime’s indiscriminate shellings. The locals are more afraid that the regime will take them hostage,” said a resident of Taungup.

Some Taungup locals have fled to shelters due to the fighting, but thousands of residents are trapped in the town due to junta blockades, and are facing food shortages.

“Basic foods including rice are running low in Taungup amid heavy fighting between the military and AA. Some people are going hungry and facing various hardships due to skyrocketing commodity prices,” said another Taungup resident.