July 5th, 2022
The Arakan Army (AA) has announced that it will retaliate for the killing of some of its soldiers in an airstrike carried out by the Burmese military on its military base on the Burma-Thailand border at around 12 noon on July 4th.
“We are studying the situation closely. If necessary, we will respond accordingly,” AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha told Development Media Group.
However, the AA has not said how or when it will respond to the coup regime’s actions.
The Burmese military’s bombing of the AA base was far from armed fighting and was a deliberate attempt to provoke war, U Khaing Thu Kha added.
“The bombing is far from the battlefield, so it can be considered deliberate. We are investigating the situation thoroughly. Depending on the Burmese military’s actions, the fighting could flare up again at any time if necessary,” he said.
U Aung Thaung Shwe, a former member of Pyithu Hluttaw from Buthidaung Township, also criticized the Burmese military for its hostile actions against the AA, escalating tensions between the two sides.
“I think there will be either a military or a political response from the AA. This situation has arisen because the military council believes that everyone is guilty. So, it is a real provocation of war,” said U Aung Thaung Shwe.
Regarding the bombing of the AA base, General Zaw Min Tun, the military council’s spokesperson, was contacted but the call went unanswered. An airstrike near the AA military camp destroyed a hospital, a sewing factory and other buildings, killed six AA soldiers and wounded several others.
A similar incident occurred when the Burmese military shelled a military training school in the Kachin Independence Army-controlled township of Lai Zar in Kachin State with heavy artillery, killing 23 cadets from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA), the Chin National Front (CNF) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF). Among them were eight cadets from the AA.
Sent by Aung Htein (DMG)