Junta troops and militia members forcibly entered and robbed the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) office in Bohmu Village  in Maungdaw Township’s Myoma Kanyintan Ward in Arakan (Rakhine) State, on 25 July 2024.

A security guard from Maungdaw Township told Narinjara that around 70 armed people broke into the Red Cross office, vandalised it and looted medicine and office supplies.

He said: “The intruders were junta troops and affiliated militiamen. I'm not sure why they did it. Maybe they needed the medicine, but they also took other items from the office. There were about 70 of them in total.”

The staff at the Red Cross Office had already been evacuated in June when fighting got close to downtown Maungdaw and the Arakan Army (AA) launched an offensive against the Maungdaw Town-based Military Operations Command No. 5 (MOC-5).

Bhomu Village remains under junta control. Due to ongoing fighting, non governmental organisation (NGO) and international non governmental organisation (INGO) offices in the area have closed, and staff have been evacuated for their own safety.

A displaced person from Buthidaung, also in Arakan (Rakhine) State, said that junta troops had behaved in a similar way in Buthidaung, vandalising and burning NGO and INGO offices.

He said: “They [the junta] did the same thing in Maungdaw as they did in Buthidaung, destroying NGO and INGO offices. If they can't be stopped, they will destroy everything. I hope the AA can take over Maungdaw soon.”

The AA attack on MOC-5 in Maungdaw Town is ongoing and there is fierce fighting between them and the junta troops supported by fighters from the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) who are defending MOC-5.

The junta has also been hitting the AA attackers with airstrikes and artillery fire from navy vessels in the NAF River.

Most Maungdaw residents fled when the fighting began. Only a few have stayed behind to guard their homes.