Over 1,300 civilians from southern Rakhine State’s Gwa Township have fled to neighboring Ayeyarwady Region as fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar military junta troops nears Gwa town, according to local residents and a lawmaker familiar with the situation on the ground.
In southern Rakhine State, the AA and joint resistance forces gained control of Thandwe in June and seized Kyeintali in Gwa Township on Aug. 14. Since then the fighting has neared Gwa town, which is near the border with Ayeyarwady Region.
“Since the clashes started in Kyeintali, many civilians from Gwa Township have arrived in our town. Now, it is estimated that there are over 100 people in our town and nearby villages,” a resident of Ingabu Township in Ayeyarwady Region told The Irrawaddy.
Kyeintali town is just 67 km from Gwa town.
In Ayeyarwady Region, after the displaced Gwa Township residents passed through the Arakan Mountains they reached the Yaynanthar military checkpoint, a crucial gateway on the Gwa-Ngathaingchaung Road, which connects Rakhine State and Ayeyarwady Region. There, they were required to give their personal information and the addresses of their destination to military officials stationed there.
The regime officials sent the information to the administrators of the towns and villages listed as destinations, and warned the Rakhine residents they would be punished if they did not appear there, said Daw Cho Cho Win, a National League for Democracy lawmaker who is the representative in exile for Ayeyarwady Region’s Lemyethna Township, and who still has access to information on the situation in her constituency.
“According to our data, it is estimated that over 1,300 people have already passed through the Yaynanthar Gate since early this month. It could be much higher than that, in fact. Some people are traveling to Ayeyarwady Region via forest routes. We are still enquiring about them,” she said.
While the AA’s offensive is focused on areas near Gwa town, residents of Ayeyarwady Region’s Hinthada district, especially areas close to the Arakan Mountains including Kwin Kauk, Ingapu, Mazalikone and Tugyi, are also bracing for clashes, with many packing up valuables and other belongings and shipping some of them to safer places.
Meanwhile, in Ngathaingchaung, Yegyi and Kyonpyaw, which are deeper inside Ayeyarwady along the route leading from the Yaynanthar Gate checkpoint, military troops have been deployed in public places including schools, football fields and pagoda compounds to defend against possible attacks by the AA and resistance forces.
“News is spreading that military junta troops will be deployed at the school next week and they will check guestlists looking for people from Rakhine State. In our town and suburban villages, there are almost 200 people from Rakhine State,” said a resident of Kwin Kauk, a town lying next to the Arakan Mountains in Ayeyarwady Region.
If the AA, People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and other resistance forces gain control of Gwa town, the clashes will very likely spread across Ayeyarwady Region, as the region is home to resistance groups trained by the AA, a political analyst said.
“As soon as Gwa comes under the control of the AA, the battles will begin in Ayeyarwady. I think it will be in the cool season,” he said. In Myanmar, the cool season starts around November.
Since launching its offensive against regime forces in November last year, the AA has captured almost all of northern Rakhine State, as well as Thandwe and Kyeintali town in the south.
