(Rangoon) Myanmar’s junta on Thursday bombed a town in Rakhine state that it said had come under the control of its adversaries, in what constitutes a new front in the conflict between the army and ethnic minority groups, a media report said local and residents to AFP.
Fighters from the Arakan Army (AA, Arakan being the old name for Rakhine) launched an offensive this week in the west of the country targeting the security forces attached to the central military power.
Their attack helped spread the conflict which broke out at the end of October in Shan State (north), close to the Chinese border, and which also had repercussions in Kayah State (east), near Thailand.
Located in the west of the country, Rakhine state is home to around a million people belonging to the stateless Rohingya ethnic group, mainly Muslims, who were victims in 2017 of a campaign of repression by the Burmese army which is subject to a complaint for “acts of genocide” to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Residents of Pauktaw told AFP about the presence of AA fighters in the town, which is said to be outside the control of the junta. Pauktaw is located approximately 25 kilometers from the regional capital Sittwe.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, said the regular army was bombing the town, and its helicopters were firing on a police station occupied by the AA.
Many residents have left Pauktaw, said this source, who hears the almost continuous sound of gunshots and artillery shells.
Around 30 police officers from Pauktaw surrendered to the Arakan Army on Wednesday, another resident, wishing to remain anonymous, told AFP.
A local media also reported that a Burmese military ship had approached the city.
In Minbya district in northern Rakhine state, three Rohingya were killed Tuesday evening by artillery fire during clashes between the AA and the army, a local Rohingya community leader said .
“The fighting has continued since then. Many Rohingya need help getting food and places to hide,” said the source, who did not give his name for security reasons.
The Arakan Army is part of the armed alliance of three ethnic minority groups that coordinated an attack on the junta in late October in Shan State.
In Rakhine state, the junta and the AA were in a truce until this week.
AA fighters have been fighting for years for autonomy in this region which is home to the Rohingya ethnic group, whose members have been considered stateless by the Burmese state since 1982.
Clashes between the AA and the army caused the displacement of more than 200,000 people in 2019, or almost one in five inhabitants of the region.