Myanmar Air Force strafes rockets on position of Arakan Army after it loses strategic base

The strategic base of Myanmar Army was occupied on 10.3.2019 in northern Arakan

by Arakan Army after fierce clashes between the Arakan Army and Myanmar Army.

During the period of occupation,  Arakan Army captured eleven

Myanmar soldiers and seized many ammunitions and weapons of Myanmar Army.

According to Arakan Army’s website, it is taking care of eleven prisoners of war and

materializing to hand over them to international organization like Red Cross.

Arakan Army has already handed over prisoners of war to International Committee of

Red Cross (ICRC) once in previous years.

After Myanmar Army lost its tactical base, it again launched offensive attacks against

the Arakan Army by using fighter jets. On 13.3.2019, Myanmar Air Force bombed and

strafed rockets on position of Arakan Army in northern Arakan hitting villages. Therefore,

villagers, in fear, are fleeing from their villages to nearby places. Nowadays, Internally

Displaced Persons (IDPs) are over ten thousands in northern Arakan due to offensive attacks

of Myanmar Army. But Myanmar government does not allow any organization including UN

to access IDPs to help humanitarian aid.  IDPs are facing lack of foods and shelters and suffering from diseases like dysentery because of no clean water.

With everyday clashes between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army in the lost Arakan to Myanmar (western Myanmar), fighting has dominated all over rural areas and towns. In these

circumstances, Myanmar Army is violating human rights and committing war crimes on civilians

and Arakanese villagers by killing, persecuting, raping, looting, arresting and threatening.