19 Myanmar junta police officers killed in attack near Bangladesh border

Myanmar’s junta has launched airstrikes after the Arakan Army (AA) seized a police outpost in Maungdaw Township on the Bangladeshi border in northern Rakhine State.

On Wednesday, the AA occupied the outpost, killing 19 junta police officers and seizing firearms, ammunition and other equipment, Myanmar based The Irrawaddy reported.

On Thursday the regime conducted three airstrikes using jet fighters and helicopters, according to residents.

A resident told The Irrawaddy that two planes and a helicopter attacked in the morning and two jets and two helicopters bombed in the afternoon.

The regime said on Thursday that its troops were moving to reoccupy the outpost, using reinforcements and artillery.

Villages said they felt the ground vibrating and some deafening blasts.

Since August 2 fighting has occurred in the area and neighboring Paletwa Township, Chin State, after the AA started attacking along the border.

Alongside regular airstrikes by jets and helicopters, around six army border bases have been firing 300 to 400 shells per day after being attacked by the AA.

Residents fled to Maungdaw town and neighboring Buthidaung Township.

The AA claimed to have killed 10 junta soldiers during a firefight near Myeik Wa village in Paletwa on Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon, several regime troops were reportedly killed in Ann Township, Rakhine State, when the AA ambushed a junta convoy on a highway, according to Rakhine media.

A video showed a regime vehicle burning on a road.

The junta faces daily attacks from resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations across the country.