Operation 1027 is probably going to spread to Rakhine State due to the military junta troops based in Rakhine State conducting test firings of large and small weapons, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said on November 8th.
According to political and military analysts, the fact that military junta bases in some townships in Rakhine State are conducting weapons tests and shooting to threaten almost every month is like provoking the war to rekindle in Rakhine State.
“The junta’s infantry units have not attacked ULA/AA’s bases for a very long time. There are no confrontations, such as army battles, anymore. There were no such confrontations, but there were some types of heavy weapons and random fire, so the AA informally made the ceasefire. The military junta is like holding the weakness,” U Pe Than, an analyst of Rakhine politics, told MPA.
The junta army is conducting military operations, arrests of media workers, strict checks on civil organizations, and test firings of weapons from their bases in Rakhine State. Therefore, residents are reportedly moving to safer areas, including making bomb shelters.
“We don’t know what the military situation is now. It may or may not happen immediately, and war may or may not happen, but we have to prepare in advance. We have experienced it many times in the past, so we have prepared to move as we don’t want to risk our lives anymore,” said a local from Rathae Taung Township, Rakhine State.
The junta troops have been moving more in Rakhine State and carrying out continuous military activities using the waterways, according to the Three Brotherhood Alliance.
Furthermore, stricter inspections of civilians with daily movement activities, stricter inspection of travel information of civil organizations, raids and arrests of offices, as well as oppression of local media workers, are reported.
“At the beginning, there was a cease-fire on both sides in Rakhine. There was not much commitment. It was a commitment built on understanding. The military junta is also reinforcing itself continuously. Now, according to the terrain in Northern Shan State, it will also affect Rakhine,” said a political analyst.
Residents say that the military junta camps stationed in Ponnagyun, Maungdaw and Taung Kok Towns of Rakhine state have been firing with heavy weapons and small arms since the end of last October.
“There is the 550th Battalion based in Ponnagyun. They are conducting firing tests from there. It has been two weeks now. They don’t test every day. They fire weapons in the early morning and in the evening. They shoot towards the mountains, but the sounds are very loud and the ground shakes. That’s why I’m worried. I live in anxiety about when it will fall,” said a local man living in Ponnagyun Township.
Starting at the end of October, the junta’s army began raiding and arresting some media outlets and offices in Rakhine State, inspecting civilians, and the Arakan Army (AA) also started arresting vehicles and policemen under the military junta.
