AA attacks junta checkpoint in Sittwe Twsp

By Admin 28 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
28 December 2024, Sittwe

The Arakkha Army (AA) clashed with the Myanmar military after the ethnic armed group fired mortar shells into a junta security checkpoint near Kyarmathauk Village in Arakan State's Sittwe Township on Friday morning.

After the AA directed at least five rounds of heavy weapons fire at a temporary junta security checkpoint near Kyarmathauk Village along the Sittwe-Yangon road on December 27, the military returned fire with heavy weapons, leading to clashes between the two sides, said a source close to the ethnic armed group.

"Fighting between the military and AA broke out yesterday morning. The AA fired mortar shells into a junta security checkpoint near Kyarmathauk Village. The military fired mortar shells into the AA positions," the source added.

Meanwhile, a local woman was killed in a junta artillery assault on Taungnyo Village, part of Arakan State's Pauktaw Township, at around 8:30 p.m. on December 27.

The military has taken up positions in Kyauktangyi, Kyarmathauk and Kyauktanchay villages near the regional operations command in Sittwe, where the fighting broke out due to an AA offensive.

DMG contacted Sittwe residents who reported that the No. 12 police battalion in Sittwe was firing indiscriminately with heavy weapons on December 28.

"We heard the sounds of heavy weapons in and around Sittwe," said a local woman in Sittwe.

The military is frequently firing heavy weapons and small arms in Sittwe Township and is also conducting regular inspections in neighbourhoods within the Arakan State capital.

Unoccupied homes in Sittwe were reportedly burgled and valuables were allegedly stolen by junta soldiers, police and immigration officials earlier this month.

"Regime officials have been accused of breaking into and ransacking unoccupied homes in Sittwe in recent days," said a local woman.

Sittwe is one of a dwindling few townships in Arakan State that the regime maintains control over.

The junta has been sending reinforcements to the villages of Amyint Kyun, Chi Lae Pin, Theintan, Kyarmathauk and Tawkan in Sittwe Township in recent days, while the AA has also been reinforcing positions in areas under its control.