A clash has been reported between the Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, with both sides suffering casualties.

Residents said fierce fighting took place on Wednesday in the Mayu mountains near Sein Hnyin Pyar and Gu Dar Pyin villages.

 “Five ARSA fighters were killed and an outpost was seized. The AA seized weapons. I heard one AA member was killed and two injured,” an AA source told The Irrawaddy.

Neither side has commented on the fighting and The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

Rakhine media reported that fighting began when ARSA troops entered AA territory in the Mayu mountains.

The fighting sparked fears of an escalation among Muslim and Buddhist communities.

ARSA, a Rohingya militant group, first emerged in 2016 when it reportedly attacked three police outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships and on police posts in northern Rakhine State in 2017, killing around 12 officers.

The military retaliated with massive clearance operations against Rohingya villages, prompting an exodus of nearly a million Rohingya to Bangladesh.

ARSA now operates along the border and inside Bangladesh refugee camps. It has later come under fire after the killings of Rohingya community leaders in the refugee camps.

A Muslim representative said ARSA was facing declining support among Muslims and no longer infiltrated the Bangladeshi refugee camps like before.

The Bangladeshi authorities have launched a probe and were hunting the group, with its leader, Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi, reportedly in hiding in Buthidaung Township.

Formed in 2009, the AA has been fighting Myanmar’s military in Rakhine State on and off since 2015 for Rakhine self-determination. It is backed by Rakhine’s population and was inflicting heavy casualties in Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State until an informal ceasefire was agreed in late 2020.

The AA has since set up its own administration and judiciary across much of Rakhine State.

However, fighting resumed in August 2022. A temporary ceasefire was agreed in November but tensions with the regime remain high.

Source:
courtesy of THE IRRAWADDY

by THE IRRAWADDY

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