Junta police and government employees have left Thandwe as the fighting between the regime and the Arakan Army (AA) moves closer to the town in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State, Thandwe residents said.
While initial reports suggested that police had surrendered to the AA at noon on Sunday, a resident close to Police Department staff said police had fled the town in plain clothes along with their weapons.
“They didn’t surrender. They fled to Gwa. There was a rumor that the two sides were exchanging fire after the AA troops attacked the police station. In fact, police just fired some shots as they were getting into their vehicles to flee,” he said.
Another Thandwe resident said a department employee told him that senior police officials had ordered police officers in the town to leave.
“Municipal staff and Immigration Department staff were told Sunday not to sleep in the town and to get as far as 10 miles [16 km] away from the town. So, they fled hastily overnight. They did not even take their belongings,” the resident told The Irrawaddy.
Guards at Thandwe Prison were released from their duties at noon on Sunday, according to a source close to the prison. It is not clear if the prisoners were freed.
Thandwe residents and Rakhine State-based media outlets reported the AA had seized Thandwe Airport on Sunday, but pro-junta Telegram channels dismissed the reports. Thandwe residents fled the town on Sunday and Monday for fear of junta air raids.
An unexploded bomb dropped by a junta jet hit a house in No. 1 Ward in Thandwe town on Monday morning.
Fighting broke out in Thandwe Township on April 13.
