AA seizes key BGF battalion in Maungdaw Twsp: source

By Admin 23 May 2024

DMG Newsroom
23 May 2024, Maungdaw

The Arakkha Army (AA) has reportedly seized the junta’s Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion No. 2 in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State.

The AA took control of the BGF battalion near the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road on the evening of May 22, according to a reliable source.

“Dead bodies of Muslim men were found and some weapons were seized. Junta soldiers who managed to flee the BGF battalion are being hunted down by the AA fighters,” the source said.

The junta’s Border Guard Force Battalion No. 5 in Myo Thu Gyi Village fired mortar shells and a junta jet fighter dropped bombs three times on AA positions.

The AA is targeting the junta’s BGF battalions and military camps to control the entire Maungdaw region, with the regime using artillery and warplanes to defend against the AA onslaught.

“Despite the AA’s warning, junta soldiers refused to surrender to the ethnic armed group. The AA steps up offensive attacks on the junta to control the entire Maungdaw region in a short period of time. The Maungdaw fighting has had good results,” said another source.

The regime has used heavy artillery and warplanes to defend Maungdaw against the AA attacks and has been firing mortar shells and conducting airstrikes on civilian areas.

Four people were killed and four others were injured in a regime airstrike on Kinchaung Village in Maungdaw Township on May 14. A junta air attack on Thayay Konbaung Village in Maungdaw Township injured two civilians and destroyed five homes and a rural healthcare centre on May 19.

“It remains to be seen what strategies the regime will use. If the regime loses this border town Maungdaw, it will suffer a lot on the military, political and economic sides. The battle for control of Maungdaw will be won in a short time as the AA gradually approaches the border town,” said a social activist in Maungdaw.

Fighting has been raging in Arakan State for more than six months, with the AA seizing large swaths of territory and effective control of nine townships, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.

The AA has seized the Border Guard Police Battalion 1 headquarters in Kyee Kan Pyin, Border Guard Police Battalion 7 in Kyein Chaung, and Border Guard Police Battalion 10 in Hla Poe Kaung. It has also stepped up attacks on Border Guard Police Battalion Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 9.