Intense clashes between the junta’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) erupted again near Pauktaw Town in northern Rakhine State on Thursday, residents of the town and the ethnic army said.
AA troops and the junta troops who remain in the coastal town began fighting at about 1 p.m. on Thursday.
The Arakan Army said the junta had been trying for one week to send reinforcements, as well as more weapons and ammunition, to its troops still stationed in the town.
On Thursday, it sent three naval vessels to the town with reinforcements, but the AA hit one of the vessels during an attack and all three retreated, residents of the town and the AA said. Some junta troops were killed on the vessel hit, the AA said.
Pauktaw residents said junta troops in the town torched houses in Pan Thee and No. 3 wards when the vessels carrying their reinforcements were forced to retreat.
Pauktaw resident U San, 43, said: “At least a dozen houses were torched in those two wards and three houses next to Myoma market were destroyed by the shelling from [junta] vessels.”
Fighting continued in the town today, residents said. They described the junta troops as being “trapped” in the town, explaining that the areas they control keep shrinking, that the town is surrounded by AA troops, and that the only exit for junta troops is by water.
In Ramree Township, clashes began in and around the town on Thursday morning, residents said. They said this was followed by shelling from junta artillery. The AA said in a statement that troops in junta bases in the township fired 28 artillery shells into nearby villages in the morning and at least 13 more into nearby villages in the evening. The AA, however, did not mention fighting with junta troops.
Besides shelling civilians, junta troops have also been torching homes in villages near the state capital, Sittwe. A junta’s column of about 80 troops raided Taw Kan Village near Sittwe and torched homes from about 9 a.m. on Thursday, according to the AA and residents.
In Minbya and Ann townships, the junta’s military fired dozens of artillery shells into the villages around them in the morning of December 21, the AA said. An unknown number of civilians were killed or injured by the shelling, residents said.
“Light Infantry battalions 541 and 379 based in Minbya Town fired into and around Hpalaung Byin Village at about 10 a.m. on Thursday,” a resident of Minbya Town said, adding that there had been no fighting with the AA in the area before the shelling.
He said that residents believed that the AA responded to the attacks on civilians by firing shelling the junta bases.
In Ann Township, the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 543 fired 80 mm and 120 mm artillery shells into Swee Chaung and Sin U Tike villages at least 20 times, and used a fighter jet to launch an airstrike, the resident of Minbya Town said. The source is linked to a rescue team and receives daily update on the conflict.
While clashes escalating in northern Rakhine State, the junta’s military has imposed heightened security in southern parts of the state to prevent the AA from launching offensives on its bases there. It has increased inspections of civilians, especially in Kyaukphyu, Thandwe, Man Aung, Gwa and Taungup townships, residents say.
The junta imposed a blockade on all the major routes inside Rakhine State – as well as routes connecting it to other states and regions – more than one month ago. As a result, civilians throughout the state face dire shortages of food, medicine, fuel and other necessities.
