Over 150 junta soldiers, BGF members surrender to AA, ethnic armed group claims

By DMG 28 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
28 September 2022, Sittwe 

The number of junta soldiers who have joined the Arakan People’s Authority and the Arakan Army (AA), along with the tally of captured military council deserters, has reached more than 150, the ethnic armed organisation said in a statement on September 28. 

The AA said they are treating defectors well and have already safely transported some to their desired destinations. Fighting between the AA and the military has intensified for much of this month and last, and the military has suffered many casualties during the hostilities, the AA added.  

Three military jet fighters bombed an AA camp on Letpan mountain range in Maungdaw Township at about 11 p.m. on September 23, hitting two of the AA’s jails and killing some junta soldiers and BGF members who were detained as prisoners of war, the ethnic armed group said. 

The AA said it provided healthcare services for the BGF members and regime soldiers who sustained injuries in the junta’s airstrikes, but some succumbed to their injuries due to lack of medicine. The AA statement also said some of the wounded had little hope of survival due to the severity of their injuries. 

In order to save lives, the AA said it had informed the responsible persons from the relevant organisations of which the casualties are members to collect the seriously ailing patients as soon as possible, but had not heard a response. It had been five days since the request for assistance in caring for these seriously injured people was sent, the AA said, adding that there were more deaths as a result. 

Currently, the AA is trying its best to treat some of the wounded BGF members and junta soldiers with medicines to keep them alive, the ethnic armed group said. 

DMG continues to attempt to contact Major-General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the regime, regarding the matter. 

About 300 residents of Buthidaung Township fled their village on September 23 due to mortar fire and the presence of Myanmar military troops, bringing the total number of new internally displaced people (IDPs) since August in Arakan State to nearly 9,000, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency (UNOCHA) in Myanmar said this week.