Clashes between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) have been breaking out in southern Rakhine State’s Ann Township and across the regional border in Magway’s Ngape Township for more than a week, according to local sources.
Fighting in Ann—where the military’s Western Regional Military Command headquarters are located—started on March 24 with a junta attack on an AA base. It was followed by a second 30-minute battle two days later between the Rakhine ethnic armed organisation and Light Infantry Battalion 346 west of the village of Lone.
Residents of Lone, as well as 10 other communities in the vicinity, have reportedly fled their homes due to the fighting.
On Tuesday, the AA issued a statement announcing that its forces had “indefinitely” blocked access to the nearly 70-mile stretch of road connecting Ann with the town of Padein in Magway. . .
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