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About 1,000 civilians are trapped by fighting in western Myanmar as ethnic minority insurgents close in on a military headquarters in the town of Ann, with all roads closed and no way out to safety, residents told Radio Free Asia on Monday.
The Arakan Army, fighting the military for self-determination in Rakhine state, has made unprecedented gains against junta forces over the past year, seizing 10 of the state’s 17 townships and one in neighboring Chin state, pinning the military back into ever-shrinking areas of control.
AA fighters and members of smaller allied forces have since March been closing in on the town of Ann, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of the city of Yangon, where the military’s Western Command is based.
The insurgents are now only a couple of kilometers away and junta forces defending their headquarters have closed all roads, leaving the few remaining civilians in the town no way out, residents said.
“We don’t have anywhere to go. Every road is closed and the fighting is getting extremely intense,” said one Ann resident who declined to be identified for security reasons.
“Yesterday, they were shooting all day and into the night. Planes are also dropping bombs, I could see smoke rising. The fighting is getting closer so of course everyone is concerned.”
RFA tried to contact Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson, Hla Thein, to ask about the situation in the town but he did not answer telephone calls.
Most of the town’s 10,000 residents fled when fighting surged in July but some families, including people who said they had nowhere to go or could not afford to move, have stayed on, residents said, leaving an estimated 1,000 people, or more.
Previously, junta authorities let people travel to the neighboring Magway region’s Pa Dan village and Minbu town, as well as to Yangon. But since Oct. 16, they have denied all travel requests, residents said, apparently in order to prevent movement of rebel forces.
The fall of Ann would be a major blow for the junta that seized power in a February 2021 coup. The military has suffered serious setbacks at the hands of various guerrilla forces in several parts of the country, including the north, northeast and east.
The AA, which draws its support from Rakhine state’s majority, ethnic Rakhine Buddhist population, has made gains throughout Rakine state. Civilians have suffered in the fighting, as a result of junta airstrikes and blockades.
The AA has also been accused of attacks on members of the state’s ethnic Rohingya, Muslim community, some of whom have joined militias in support of the junta.
The AA denies attacking Rohingya but human rights groups have reported serious abuses and killings, in particular in areas in the north of the state, near the border with Bangladesh, where the AA has seized large areas from junta control.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.
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