- Web Master
- September 16, 2024
Kyaing Hein Lin, Narinjara News, 12 August 2024
The junta forces have been encircling the Sittwe town with
barbed wires starting from strand
road, said a resident adding that they have started working on fencing since
the first week of August.
"They are erecting a fence around Sittwe,
putting up to 6-foot-high barriers on top of the wall along strand road. They have now
begun works near Min Gyi Kyauk Tan," added the resident.
The purpose of the fencing is to restrict residents'
movement inside Sittwe and to prevent the Arakan Army (AA) fighters from
entering the town.
"Primarily, this is intended to make it difficult
for the people to travel. The Kaladan river banks stretch and the fencing are
meant to block the residents from moving. They are also seemingly concerned
about the AA fighters and hence the fence is erected to prevent them from
entering the town easily," asserted the resident.
Another resident informed that electric current may
also be applied in the fencing to make it more dangerous.
"They are currently putting up barbed wires and
plan to use electric shocks. As they are worried about AA fighters, they may
use the electricity to prevent them," added the resident.
Since last month, the military soldiers are
transporting concrete and wooden poles, along with bags of cement, from Yangon
to Sittwe by the waterways for the fence.
Narinjara News contacted U Hla Thein, junta’s spokesman for Arakan State, but
could not receive a response over the construction of fencing.
The junta has also planted naval mines around Sittwe,
which is surrounded by Kaladan river and the sea, to enhance the security
around the township.
Meanwhile, many civilians are being arrested and they may be used as human
shields in the coming days.
Till date, the AA fighters have captured Ponnagyun,
Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Pauktaw, Myebon, Ramree (Yanbye), Rathedaung,
Buthidaung and Taung Pyo townships in Arakan State along with Paletwa in Chin
State.
Currently, they are intensifying the offensive to capture Maungdaw and Thandwe
towns.
Photograph caption: A fence along strand road in Sittwe