Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun has called the Arakan Army (AA) attack on junta troops last week in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township a provocation.
“The Tatmadaw [Myanmar’s military] has been tolerant in the interests of local Rakhine people. But the AA provoked in two places in Maungdaw Township on July 18, which they should not have done,” the junta spokesman said during a press conference on Tuesday. “Some security personnel died and some were taken into custody.”
The military and Arakan Army clashed at two separate locations in rural Maungdaw Township on July 18. The AA said 14 junta personnel were captured in the fighting, and described the attacks as being retaliation for junta airstrikes on an AA outpost in Kayin State on July 4, which killed six AA soldiers.
Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun questioned the presence of the AA troops in eastern Myanmar’s Kayin State, and claimed the military was not aware that they were there.
“It is everyone’s knowledge that the AA was born in the area controlled by the Kachin Independence Army in Kachin State, and is active in some parts of Rakhine [Arakan State]. … They have never said that they are also present in Kayin State,” said the junta spokesman.
He added that the air raid was not targeted at the AA, and instead was meant to strike at “terrorist organisations” in the area, which is controlled by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
“Our military operations do not target any ethnic people, organisation or army. We only fight the terrorist organisations,” said Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun.
DMG was unable to contact AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha for comment on Tuesday.
An informal ceasefire in place between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army since November 2020 has looked increasingly tenuous in recent weeks amid escalating tensions between the two sides. Sporadic clashes have cast doubt on the truce’s durability, including last week’s hostilities in Maungdaw and more recent fighting in neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State, on July 24.
The Arakan Army has abducted more than a dozen junta and police personnel since last month, and the regime has also detained several Arakan State residents on suspicion of having ties to the Arakanese ethnic armed group.
