AA brings fight to urban military positions in Arakan State

By Admin 31 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
31 December 2023, Sittwe

The Arakan Army (AA) has made seizing junta bases and military camps in urban parts of Arakan State a focus of its offensive operations in recent weeks, following the launch of “Operation 1027” in late October.

The AA has also seized more than 140 Border Guard Force (BGF) outposts and police stations and two tactical command bases during the latest hostilities in Arakan State and Chin State’s Paletwa, which began on November 13.

The Arakan Army (AA) seized the district police station in Mrauk-U, Arakan State, on December 26, and launched an attack on the Myaungbwe police station in Mrauk-U Township on December 28, successfully occupying the police station two days later.

“Junta bases and military camps are built in urban areas. The regime’s administration is completely gone in the rural areas, and the ULA has set up a parallel administration. This is the reason why fighting occurs in urban areas,” said U Pe Than, an Arakanese politician.

Fighting between the military and AA is reported with regularity in Pauktaw, Mrauk-U and Ramree townships, and both sides are also active in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Kyaukphyu, Ann, and Myebon townships.

“People no longer live in urban areas as the junta fires mortar shells into residential areas,” said a resident in Ramree.

Fighting has been ongoing in downtown Pauktaw for nearly two months after the AA occupied the Myoma police station there on November 16.

Thousands of locals in conflict-areas have fled to safer locations and are in need of emergency assistance, including residents of Kyauktaw who evacuated the town in recent days, fearing the potential for imminent urban combat.

The regime has tightened security in the city of Sittwe, where the Arakan State military council is headquartered, after the AA seized security checkpoints in Sittwe Township’s rural areas.

Since renewed fighting began on November 13, clashes have continued to escalate in Arakan State and have spread to almost all 17 townships in the state, with the number of displaced civilians rising daily.