Residents reported that Junta soldiers from two outposts situated on Taungphyu and Aung Mingalar hills in Panmyaung village of Minbya Township in Rakhine State, have withdrawn.
Panmyaung villagers said that over 100 Military Council troops stationed at the two outposts crossed the Lemro River and hastily withdrew toward Mrauk-U Township on the night of December 12th.
"At night, they took ferries to cross the river towards Mrauk-U. There was some gunfire during their withdrawal. Now there are no Military Council troops left in the village”, a villager told DMG.
Prior to abandoning their outposts, the Military Council troops fired artillery into residential areas on the afternoon of December 12th. As a result of this shelling, some artillery rounds landed near Gonkyun village in Mrauk-U Township, causing injury to a local.
Furthermore, about 70 Military Council troops, stationed on Taungphyu hill, entered Panmyaung village on December 11th. They temporarily detained six villagers before eventually releasing them.
"The detainees were released around 11:00 PM. We heard that their hands and faces were injured, but the details are still unknown”, a Panmyaung villager reported.
Starting on the afternoon of December 11th, a Military Council helicopter and a jet fighter circled over Panmyaung village, firing indiscriminately, leading residents to evacuate. Following the withdrawal of Military Council troops from their outposts, nearly half of the locals returned to their village.
The intense clashes with the Military Council have persisted for approximately a month following the Arakan Army (AA)'s renewed offensive in Rakhine State. In this time, AA successfully captured four Border Guard Police Stations of the Military Council, two significant tactical operation command bases in Paletwa Township, and numerous outposts.