- Web Master
- June 22, 2024
Thinzar Nwe, Narinjara News, 21 August 2024
Fearing a potential offensive by the Arakan Army (AA)
on Taungup township in Arakan State, the family members of junta forces,
including those of officers, are now fleeing to mainland Myanmar.
The AA fighters are assumed to be planning an offensive against the junta's
Taung Paw Gyi and Nyaung Kyoe checkpoints in Taungup. As a result, many junta
family members, who were stationed at the checkpoints and the 346th and 544th
light infantry battalions, started fleeing towards Pyay, a nearest locality to
Taungup, on motorcycles, said a local eyewitness.
Those family members can only pass through the junta’s
checkpoints along the Taungup-Pyay road if they are endorsed by the military
operations command (MOC-5) office.
"Without the commander's signature, neither
family members of the junta forces nor any others are allowed to go through the
checkpoints. The soldiers are not allowed to send their families. Only
some families are escaping," added the local resident.
The junta soldiers are conducting frequent
airstrikes on Taungup locality. The locals apprehend that more airstrikes
may be on their cards as they see the aircrafts continue to hover
over their places.
Since the first week of August, the junta battalions
in Taungup are firing artillery shells causing fear and panic among local
residents.
In the second week, the junta forces conducted airstrikes on several villages
under Taungup township resulting in destruction of many houses.
Photograph: In April, the junta forces and their
family members from Rathedaung township raised a white flag and surrendered to
the AA