Locals in northern Rakhine State fled their homes to hide in bunkers as several large explosions rocked a nearby military base on Monday, followed by the sound of guns and sightings of flames and smoke.
The villagers from Kyauk Yan Thazi, Rathedaung Township, thought that fighting had erupted again between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) almost exactly a year after the two sides reached an unofficial ceasefire.
But a junta official reportedly said the explosions were caused by a fire. The base is situated in the hills near Manyintaung village, about a mile north of Kyauk Yan Thazi.
“We heard five explosions and several gunshots and we saw that there was a fire at the military base,” said a local from Kyauk Yan Thazi. “The fire started right after the first explosion. It was so bright.”
There are several military bases in Manyintaung and the surrounding hills, he added. Residents from Kyauk Yan Thazi packed their things and hid in bunkers that had been prepared during previous fighting between the military and the AA.
After the explosions, a military official called a village administrator and told him that artillery shells at the base had exploded after the place where they were stored caught fire, according to a resident of Pyeintaw village, which is also a mile from the base.
“We heard that the military called the administrator of Konetan village, which is situated to the north of Manyintaung, to tell them to not be afraid and that it was just a house fire, and that the shells in the base exploded after catching fire,” the Pyeintaw resident said.
“People only calmed down after the military called the administrators,” he added.
Soldiers on guard duty at the other side of the base appear to have been startled by the explosions and started firing shots, the locals said.
The hills around Manyintaung witnessed intense fighting before last year’s ceasefire.
In August last year a three-year-old child was among five civilians injured by shelling in Kyauk Yan Thazi. Locals said that the military had shelled the village even though there was no fighting with the AA at the time.
Manyintaung’s residents were displaced by the fighting and have not returned home despite the ceasefire because of the presence of the military base.
“The military has been stationed inside the village since the villagers fled. The soldiers have destroyed the houses and did as they needed there,” said the Paindaw resident.
Locals in the area are living in fear of more fighting despite the relative peace of the past year, he added. “We are expecting more battles.”
More than 200,000 people in Rakhine and southern Chin State were displaced by almost two years of fighting that started in early 2019, while hundreds were killed or tortured by the military for suspected links to the AA.
Roughly half of those displaced have not been able to return to their homes because of the presence of Myanmar military soldiers in or near their villages, or because of unexploded bombs and landmines.
While much of the rest of the country has descended into violence since the February coup, the AA has refrained from fighting the junta’s forces, choosing instead to strengthen its political influence over Rakhine.
In response the military moved to build up its forces in northern Rakhine in August, raising fears of a fresh conflict erupting in the region.
