The Arakan Army (AA) says it has seized a second strategic hilltop outpost in Paletwa Township, Chin State, after launching an offensive against the Myanmar military on Nov. 13.
AA forces took the Hnone Buu outpost at 11.45 pm on Sunday after weeks of fighting with junta troops that also saw the nearby Traunaing outpost fall on Dec. 4, the ethnic armed group said on Monday.
Paletwa lies on the border with the AA’s stronghold of Rakhine State.
“The enemy deployed massive artillery and air strikes to defend the base. However, we eventually seized it along with caches of weapons and ammunition and the dead bodies of junta troops including the tactical operation commander of Hnone Buu outpost,” the AA in its statement.
Roads and internet connections have been cut off in Paletwa as the fighting rages. The town is also facing food shortages and high prices amid a lack of supplies, said a resident.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told a press conference in November that Traunaing and Hnone Buu are on a main route connecting Myanmar with India, while accusing the AA of undermining development in Rakhine State.
AA spokesperson U Khine Thu Kha said its forces had taken control of the strategic hilltop outposts because junta troops were using them to oppress Chin and Rakhine ethnic communities in Paletwa Township.
Clashes continue to break out across northern Rakhine State as the AA targets more junta outposts and bases. Pauktaw Township is still seeing heavy fighting.
Regime forces are responding with indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas.
In Ann Township, Tal Hpyar village was targeted by shells from the junta’s Taw Hein hilltop outpost near Kazuu Kaing village tract at 6 pm on Monday. Another hilltop outpost in nearby Dalat Chaung village shelled AA positions around two hours later.
