Thousands flee fighting in northern Rakhine, southern Chin states

Residents of a wide swathe of northern Rakhine State and parts of southern Chin State have been forced to flee their homes over the past week as fighting between regime forces and the Arakan Army (AA) continues to intensify in these areas. The latest clashes were reported in Rakhine’s Kyauktaw Township, where junta shelling killed a man in his 70s and injured another in his 40s before dawn on Thursday, according to local sources. Both victims were residents of the village of Ah Pauk Wa, which was hit by multiple shells fired by the military’s Artillery Battalion 377, a resident of the area told Myanmar Now. “The house of the man who was killed was also destroyed, along with a nearby shop, and the injured man’s home was damaged,” the source said, noting that plans to cremate the deceased had been put on hold due to fears of further shelling. On Wednesday, heavy artillery fire and airstrikes were also reported in Rakhine’s Minbya Township following early morning attacks on three military outposts near the village of Sin Gyi Pyin. “A girl was injured when a heavy artillery shell fell on our village, but not seriously,” said one resident of the village, adding that other villages were also affected. “There’s fighting everywhere, so we had nowhere to run to,” said the resident of Sin Gyi Pyin, which has a population of about 3,000 people and is only about a mile from where the clashes broke out. A man living in the town of Minbya said that the fighting began at around 6:30am and continued for more than an hour. “The junta’s forces had been shooting all night, and then a battle started in the morning. After that, there were also some airstrikes,” he said. Regime troops stationed on a hill near Minbya provided additional firepower by bombarding the battle site with heavy artillery, he added. While no casualty figures were available at the time of reporting, one local woman posted on Facebook that her father had been injured and was in need of emergency medical assistance. “My father was hit by a heavy artillery shell. He is stuck alone near the house. Please help him,” she wrote. Fighting in Mrauk-U Fighting also broke out on Tuesday in Mrauk-U, an ancient temple town located between Kyauktaw and Minbya, after the AA intercepted a column of around 50 junta troops near the Thakya Man Aung Pagoda in the town’s specially designated cultural zone. AA troops stand at the entrance to Mrauk-U in early January (AA) The column, from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 540, was leaving the town and heading towards the base of Police Battalion 31 when the incident occurred. According to residents, several junta soldiers and at least four civilians died as a result of the attack and the ensuing clash. “One person was hit by a heavy artillery shell, but the rest were shot at close range. They all had multiple injuries. We don’t know how many shots were fired at the victims,” said one Mrauk-U man. Locals say the town is now almost completely deserted, as most residents have fled to neighbouring villages to escape the fighting, which began with the AA’s capture of a district police station late last month. Regime forces have also largely abandoned the town, with only troops from LIB 540, 377, and 378, as well as police from Police Battalion 31, still stationed in the area. “The junta’s troops no longer come into the town. When they did [on Tuesday] there was a fight,” said a local man who also noted that the AA had raised its flag at the entrance to the town. “I don’t know if that means they now control the entrance to the town, I think that’s what they are trying to say,” said the man. In a statement released on Wednesday, the AA said that the clash near the Thakya Man Aung Pagoda lasted just a few minutes and resulted in the death of at least 15 junta soldiers. The group also accused the LIB 540 troops of using three local people as human shields as they retreated from the site of the clash. All three were later shot dead, the AA statement added. Later the same day, another civilian was killed and two more were injured when regime forces opened fire with heavy artillery, according to the AA, which said it would respond forcefully to the junta’s war crimes. A map shows the town of Paletwa and the junta’s Infantry Battalion 289 tactical camp (Google Maps) Battle for Paletwa On the same day as the clash in Mrauk-U, the AA was also engaged in fierce fighting with junta forces in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township, some 55 miles to the north. A month after capturing a key tactical base in the township, the AA is continuing its push to take full control of its administrative centre despite coming under heavy artillery fire and airstrikes. It also said that it has launched another offensive on the junta’s Mee Wa tactical camp, located on a hill that lies on the border between Paletwa and Kyauktaw townships. According to Salai Joshua, a tactical commander for the Paletwa-based Chinland Defence Force (CDF), most junta camps in the township are now controlled by AA and Chin resistance forces. “We have seized many junta outposts. The only ones we are still unable to capture are the Sami tactical hill and the Infantry Battalion 289 tactical hill in the town of Paletwa, as well as some small outposts outside the town,” he said. There have been ongoing clashes in Paletwa since January 5, when the AA seized the town’s police station. The group also currently occupies three junta tactical camps in Paletwa located along the Kaladan River. AA troops pose with weapons and ammunition seized during the capture of the junta’s LIB 308 base near Paletwa (AA) In response to the AA’s efforts to seize the tactical camps in Paletwa and Sami, a town some 15 miles to the east, the military has carried out a series of airstrikes, according to Salai Joshua. As a result, almost the entire population of has fled, he added. “There are still many people living in Paletwa, but in Sami, nearly 8,000 people—almost everyone living there—has fled,” he said. According to local sources, the total number of displaced people in Paletwa is now around 30,000, many of whom are in immediate need of food and medical assistance. The United Nations estimates that there are now more than 2.6 million internally displaced persons in Myanmar, including at least 650,000 forced to flee their homes since the start of a major anti-junta offensive that began in northern Shan State in late October.

Thousands flee fighting in northern Rakhine, southern Chin states

Most have been displaced by indiscriminate air and artillery attacks carried out by the military in response to the Arakan Army’s ongoing offensive in the region

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