Fighting has been going on for almost two months between the country’s army and the insurgent group Arakan Army in Rakhine state of Myanmar. That is why the sound of shelling and mortar shells inside Myanmar has spread panic across the country.
Especially since mortar shells and bullets were thrown from the other side in various areas including Ghumdhum of Naikshyongchari in Bandarban, Palangkhali in Ukhia and Hoikang in Teknaf, this fear has increased.The administration has already announced the closure of eight government primary schools in Ghumdhum due to security concerns. This decision has been taken as the locals panicked when the shells came across the border in Myanmar recently.
Residents of the border area said clashes between rebel groups and the Myanmar junta government are ongoing across the Myanmar-Naikshyongchari border. There is artillery shelling as well as shelling from aircraft. The Myanmar-Naikshyongchari border fenced by barbed wire in the Burmese part of the border areas became projected with the loud sound of more than half a hundred mortar shells in three days.
Locals said helicopters were seen flying close to the border across Myanmar at the Ukhia-Teknaf border.
Hafez Ahmed, a local resident of Ghumdhum, said that the sound of gunshots was heard about hundreds of times from last Monday to Wednesday morning.
Not only that, a mortar shell has landed in the house of an expatriate in Paschimkul area of Tumbru in Ghumdhum Union of Hoikang Upazila. Since then, the panic has increased.
Khaleda Begum, the expatriate’s wife, said that while sitting at the door of the house and talking on the phone, a loud sound was heard when a bullet hit the tree in the house. But there was no damage.
Jahangir Aziz, Chairman of Ghumdhum Union, said that the shelling has been going on for almost two months. But for the past week, the sound of gunfire and mortar shell explosions has been heard almost every day. The people of the border area are in fear.
He said panic increased especially after mortar shells and bullets were fired.
Naikshyongchari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Zakaria said eight educational institutions including Madrasas in Tumbru area of Naikshyongchari have been closed due to the sound of heavy gunfire on the border.
Stating that the sound of gunfire has increased since last Monday, he said that the Deputy Commissioner of Bandarban is coming to visit the border area today on Wednesday. Further action will be taken after inspection.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Myanmar media Irrawaddy, the Arakan Army captured the headquarters of the 380th battalion of the Myanmar Army in the city of Minbia in Rakhine on Sunday. Fighting between the two sides is ongoing in Rakhine’s Mrauk U, Kyukta and Rathedong areas.
Meanwhile, the Arakan Army has claimed in a statement that the junta does not have the capacity to fight. They are now carrying out more shelling and aerial bombing.
