New clashes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state displace 26,000: UN
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Since October 2023, armed ethnic minority groups have been battling the junta across a swathe of northern Shan state near the border with China.
PHOTO: AFP
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YANGON – Renewed fighting this week between Myanmar’s military and an ethnic minority armed group has displaced more than 26,000 people in western Rakhine state, according to the United Nations.
Ongoing clashes between the Arakan Army and the military “have resulted in the displacement of 26,175 people” across Rakhine, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) said in an update on Nov 17.
Arakan Army fighters launched attacks on security forces in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin state
Unocha said that at least 11 people had been killed in military shelling of Arakan Army positions since Nov 13.
On Nov 16, junta troops shelled the town of Pauktaw, 25.7km west of state capital Sittwe, and shot at it from helicopters after Arakan Army fighters briefly seized the police station, residents told AFP.
The military took control of the town later in the day, and on Nov 17, the local media cited residents saying that about 50 people had been detained and an unknown number were feared dead.
Unocha said 19,000 people had been displaced from Pauktaw.
“Virtually all” roads and waterways connecting Rakhine townships have been blocked, the agency said, adding that most humanitarian activities in affected townships had been suspended.
It said that more than 100 people had reportedly been detained by the junta authorities since the renewed clashes.
For years, the Arakan Army has fought a war for the autonomy of the state’s ethnic Rakhine population in their home near the border with Bangladesh.
Since October, Arakan Army fighters, in alliance with two other armed ethnic minority groups, have been battling the junta across a swathe of northern Shan state near the border with China.
The alliance, which includes the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, has seized towns and blocked vital trade routes to Myanmar’s northern neighbour.
The offensive has galvanised other opponents of the military, with clashes spreading to Myanmar’s western and eastern borders in what analysts say is the biggest military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.
On Nov 17, anti-coup fighters in eastern Kayah state said they had torched a courthouse in the state capital Loikaw amid clashes with security forces in and around the city.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Nov 15 that he was “deeply concerned” about the widening conflict. AFP
