Myanmar junta’s air, artillery attacks kill six in northern Rakhine State

Six civilians were killed in northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township on Wednesday after Myanmar’s military unleashed a series of air and artillery assaults in retaliation for its recent loss of bases in the area, according to the Arakan Army (AA). In a statement released early Thursday, the group said the victims were living in two villages near the town of Kyauktaw, which has been largely under the AA’s control since late last week. “An artillery shell killed a 52-year-old man in Thayet Tapin [and] an airstrike at around 5pm killed five internally displaced persons near the village of Weygyi Dunk, leaving many others injured,” the group said in its statement. A video of the aftermath of the airstrike obtained by Myanmar Now shows a man looking at a boy lying in a pool of blood while a woman cries, “Mother, mother!” over a woman being taken away in a cart. It also shows smoke rising from nearby buildings. A woman lies on the ground after being injured by junta shelling in Lint Sit, a village in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township, on January 17 (Myo Naing Oo) Fighting has intensified in northern Rakhine State since last Sunday, when the AA seized control of the town of Paletwa in southern Chin State, with fierce clashes reported in Kyauktaw, Minbya, and Rathedaung townships in recent days. The AA, a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, has been waging a major offensive in western Myanmar since mid-November as part of Operation 1027, the alliance’s effort to overthrow the country’s military regime. While fighting in northern Shan State, where the offensive began in late October, has halted since last week due to a Chinese-brokered ceasefire, the military continues to come under unrelenting pressure in Rakhine State. On Tuesday, the AA captured the Infantry Battalion 539 base in Kyauktaw, taking some 300 junta troops prisoner. Many other soldiers have been forced to flee, some across the border into neighbouring India, as the AA keeps up its attacks. On Wednesday, a local news outlet in India’s Mizoram State reported that a fresh wave of 278 junta soldiers had entered the country earlier in the day. Last week, India’s army chief General Manoj Pande said that more than 400 Myanmar army personnel had crossed the border over the previous two months, most of whom have since been repatriated. The AA claims that it has captured more than 140 military outposts across northern Rakhine State. In response, the regime has resorted to retaliatory attacks that have claimed civilian lives in several townships, including near the state capital Sittwe. Attacks, including airstrikes carried out by Mi-35 attack helicopters, were also reported in Minbya Township on Wednesday. “Two Mi-35s have been attacking Minbya since 11am today and an artillery shell fired by the enemy’s navy also hit the village of Nga Tinpyin in Minbya Township, setting the entire village on fire,” according to an AA statement. The AA has warned people living in the conflict zone to avoid large gatherings and to take other precautions to protect themselves from junta shelling and airstrikes.

Myanmar junta’s air, artillery attacks kill six in northern Rakhine State

The attacks were carried out in retaliation for the military’s recent loss of tactical bases in Kyauktaw Township to the Arakan Army

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