Shells are raining down day and night in southern Rakhine State’s Taungup and Gwa townships as Myanmar regime troops launch last-ditch efforts to ward off the advancing Arakan Army (AA).
The indiscriminate artillery barrages come after the AA announced last Thursday that it would continue attacking junta positions in coastal Thandwe Township, as well as Taungup to the north and Gwa to the south. Taungup hosts Military Operation Command No. 5, one of three commands overseeing regime troops in Rakhine.
AA forces took control of most of Thandwe Township last month after seizing the airport, the 566th Light Infantry Battalion and 55th Infantry Battalion bases, and most of Ngapali Beach.
The junta has responded by reinforcing its positions in mountains west of Maung Shwe Lay naval base in Thandwe Township, as well as in Kyeintali town to the south, local sources told The Irrawaddy.
Junta positions in Taungup town fired around 18 shells on Sunday, according to residents.
“Three junta positions fired shells. I don’t know if there were casualties or damage,” one local told The Irrawaddy.
Villagers in Kyeintali town in Gwa Township also reported hearing gunfire.
Junta soldiers have occupied two Buddhist monasteries outside Kyeintali and ordered residents nearby to abandon their homes.
“They have fortified the monastery fence with sharpened bamboo stakes. The monks have fled,” said a resident.
Junta troops withdrew to Gwa town from Chin Kwin village late last month after blowing up a bridge to slow the advance of AA forces. They have since returned to Chin Kwin and deployed in the mountains west of the village, a resident said.
Junta soldiers have also established a position on a hill west of Maung Shwe Lay naval base, the last regime base defending Thandwe Township, a local told The Irrawaddy.
“Four vehicles of junta soldiers arrived around 6 pm on Saturday. They have since been deployed on the hill west of Maung Shwe Lay village. Villagers are panicked,” a resident said.
Communications including internet have been down in Thandwe town since July 13. The regime has also cut phone and internet access in Ngapali Beach amid heavy fighting around the country’s premier beach resort town, making it difficult to know the latest situation in Thandwe.
