Bomb blasts and gunfire near Letmaseik village in Ponnagyun Township on Monday drove as many as 800 villagers from their homes, according to local sources.

There were three bomb blasts and gunfire while a Tatmadaw troop was marching from Letmaseik village to Min Zee Chaung village at about 2 p.m. on 16 September, local residents said.

The fighting reportedly killed some animals from Letmaseik village but there is no report of collateral damage because villagers were hiding during the confrontation.

Villagers fled to nearby villages due to the armed conflict near the village. “About thirty or forty people are left in the village now. They fled from home to seek safety,” a villager said.

The AA announced that they attacked the Burma Army’s reinforcement troops near Min Zee Chaung village in Ponnagyun Township.

The number of IDPs due to the ongoing armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the AA in northern Arakan State has now reached about 65,000, the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) said.