The United League of Arakan has urged Maungdaw residents near the Bangladesh border in Rakhine State to leave the town as its armed wing, the Arakan Army (AA), seeks to seize remaining Myanmar junta strongholds.
The organization said on Sunday that the remaining junta bases in Maungdaw Township are encircled. It added that the military has long used the town as a base for operations and has prepared for urban warfare.
It has urged residents to leave areas where regime forces had fortified positions or been deployed.
The AA completely seized adjacent Buthidaung Township in mid-May before prioritizing Maungdaw.
It said it occupied 10 more junta bases in Maungdaw, including three Border Guard Force headquarters and an army base between June 1 and 13.
It claimed that over 200 regime troops, including an army base commander, Colonel Tayzar Htay, were killed.
A military analyst recently told The Irrawaddy that the state capital, Sittwe, will be the AA’s next target after Maungdaw.
In February, the AA told the regime’s Sittwe command to surrender or face defeat after seizing territory around the capital.
More than half of the city’s population, including junta administrators, have left Sittwe.
The junta is accused of using villagers from near Sittwe as human shields to defend the city.
With all entrances to Sittwe Township blocked, evicted civilians from about 12 villages outside the capital have been ordered to relocate to the city.
On Saturday night, junta forces abducted around 200 civilians from their homes in the capital and released them if a ransom of up to 1 million kyats (around US$230) was paid, according to the Rakhine media.
The AA has extended its attacks to junta bases in Thandwe and Ann townships.
A clash between the regime and AA was reported in Taungup Township on Saturday and a junta airstrike killed a 17-year-old villager.
On Sunday and Monday, junta shelling hit the house of a regime-appointed education officer at junta-controlled Taungup University, the Rakhine media reported. No clashes with the AA had been reported in the area.
The AA has seized around 11 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships since the launch of its offensive on November 13 last year.
