Junta reinforcing Gwa in wake of Western Command’s fall

By Admin 24 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
24 December 2024, Gwa

The military regime has been reinforcing its positions in Gwa Town amid intense fighting with the Arakkha Army (AA), with three tanks and more than 20 military trucks heading to Gwa from Ayeyarwady Region on Monday night.

A local told DMG that at around 7 p.m. on Monday, he saw three tanks and more than 20 trucks heading to Gwa Town on the Gwa-Ngathainggyaung road, which links Gwa in the southernmost part of Arakan State with Ngathainggyaung Township in Ayeyarwady Region.

“Many of the troops I saw in those trucks were young people. They must be conscripts,” he said.

The AA has seized two-thirds of Gwa and is now engaged in fierce fighting with Light Infantry Battalion No. 562, the last junta battalion defending Gwa.

The junta has been using warplanes and artillery to defend the southernmost town bordering Ayeyarwady, as well as continuously sending ground reinforcements.

One Ayeyarwady Region resident familiar with the matter said: “Trucks that left for Gwa were full of soldiers. The same trucks carry back bodies and injured soldiers.”

Faced with defeats on multiple fronts in ethnic states, the regime has been forcibly recruiting civilians under the Conscription Law, and then deploying conscripts to the frontline.

Conscripts are being sent to the Arakan front, where hundreds of junta soldiers have surrendered to the AA recently.

An observer monitoring the military situation in Arakan said: “According to their announcements, the junta has trained eight batches of conscripts. Few of them can fight on the battlefield. And many experienced soldiers have died or surrendered. This shows the junta is losing heavily on the ground.”

The AA has captured Ann, Taungup and Thandwe townships along the Arakan Mountains.  After the fall of Ann, which housed the military’s Western Command headquarters, Gwa has become the junta’s last hope to retain a presence in southern Arakan State.

Military observers predict fierce fighting in Gwa as the regime uses significant resources to defend Gwa in an effort to stop the conflict from spilling over into Ayeyarwady Region.