The Myanmar regime’s second in command, Vice Senior General Soe Win, has called on his troops in Arakan State to be ready to fight, as the Arakan Army’s spokesman on Tuesday accused the junta of preparing to wage a full-scale war.
The deputy junta chief is currently on a visit in Arakan State and met military personnel and their families in Sittwe and Buthidaung on Sunday. Soe Win told the troops to maintain combat readiness at all times. When respective military units and battalions do so, it will ensure the security of Arakan State, Soe Win was quoted by state-run media as saying.
“Military personnel are responsible for security around the clock and security must be your top priority in performing the duty of national defence,” he told the troops.
Soe Win claimed that the Myanmar military is exercising considerable restraint so as not to disrupt the peace and stability that people are enjoying in Arakan State.
The military and the Arakan Army have largely observed an unofficial ceasefire since November 2020. But four clashes have taken place between two sides this year, and military tensions are running high in the region.
Meanwhile, at an online press conference held by the Arakan Army on Tuesday, AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha said the Myanmar military had recently deployed artillery and had also moved a submarine into Arakan State.
“Their strength lies in weaponry. They are wielding weapons to boost the morale of their soldiers. As Arakan State is a coastal area, the regime has brandished [a] submarine,” U Khaing Thukha said, referring to a submarine sighting in the Thanzit River on May 31. “These are the signs that they will fight to the finish with all their strength if something [bad] happens.”
Myanmar’s military regime has restricted the movements of civilians and trade flows in Arakan State, U Khaing Thukha added, warning that relations between the two sides would further deteriorate if the regime’s provocations continue. The regime has also stepped up inspections at checkpoints along some roads in Arakan State.
Since the 2020 ceasefire, the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army, has expanded a parallel governing apparatus it administers in Arakan State, complete with a judiciary, revenue department and public security offices. Much of the administration was built up while the regime has been busy fighting anti-junta resistance forces that have proliferated across the country since last year’s military coup.
A former lawmaker from Buthidaung Township, U Aung Thaung Shwe, said clashes this year had taken place when junta troops entered AA territory.
“I heard that the AA has taken control of around 75 percent of the territory. Clashes may happen when junta troops enter the areas controlled by the AA,” said U Aung Thaung Shwe.
Some civilians who returned to their villages in Rathedaung Township following the ceasefire have recently come to Rathedaung town for fear of possible hostilities, said activist Ko Kyaw Min Khaing.
“Elderly persons and women have come to the town, and only men are left in the villages to take care of their homes,” he said.
“There have been certain troop deployments in all the places. The regime has either moved or deployed artillery and ammunition,” Khaing Thukha said at Tuesday’s press conference, the third of its kind this year.
More than 200,000 people were displaced by the fighting in Arakan State between late 2018 and November 2020. Many returned to their homes following the 2020 ceasefire, but tens of thousands remain at displacement camps.
