Arakan Army and Myanmar military clash near Bangladesh border

Fighting broke out between the Arakan Army (AA) and the junta’s armed forces near the Bangladeshi border in Rakhine State’s northern Maungdaw Township on Thursday, locals said. 

The exchange of gunfire reportedly began at 11am around the deserted village of Kun Thee Pin, more than one mile east of the town of Taungpyoletwea. The area is located in territory controlled by the No. 3 Border Guard Police Force. 

“We could hear consecutive fire from heavy and light weapons but they stopped at around 1pm,” a local told Myanmar Now. 

Kun Thee Pin was once home to more than 1,000 residents, but the population of Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh during the military’s genocidal scorched earth operations of 2017.

A refugee currently living in a Bangladeshi camp near the Rakhine State border also confirmed that they heard heavy artillery shells being fired near Taungpyoletwea on Thursday afternoon. 

AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha told Myanmar Now that had not received any information from the ground about the alleged fighting in the Taungpyoletwea area. 

During clashes on September 16 in Maungdaw, the military launched airstrikes against the AA in Maungdaw, with several shells falling on the Bangladeshi side of the border. The neighbouring nation’s government has claimed it will inform the UN if Myanmar’s army does not cease shelling in the area. According to a September 17 report in the Dhaka Tribune, the junta has ignored the country’s concerns.

There were reportedly no aerial attacks employed in Thursday’s clash, locals said. 

Five days after the AA warned the military that starting on September 14, they would be conducting searches on both land and water in an attempt to cut off troop movements, the armed group intercepted two junta marine vessels sending reinforcements, arms and supplies near Mede village in Maungdaw. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Rights Affairs (UNOCHA) released a statement on Tuesday announcing that as of September 15, the military had issued orders to cease provisions of humanitarian aid in six Rakhine State townships: Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon and Rathedaung. 

The agency described the situation in northern Rakhine State as “volatile” due to the fighting between the AA and military. _Myanmar Now