Myanmar army soldiers patrol a village in Maungdaw located in Rakhine State in this file image. (AFP)
Rebel group Arakan Army has urged civilians to flee Rakhine state in western Myanmar as it stepped up offensives to wipe out the military junta forces from the region.
The rebels urged the people in Maungdaw township, just across the border with Bangladesh, to flee to safer locations as soon as possible, said a statement issued on June 16.
The Arakan rebels said they would target the remaining military camps in Maungdaw, which is home to predominantly Muslim ethnic Rohingya people.
For months, the military junta used the town of an estimated 80,000 residents as its base for operations against rebels in the region.
The rebels urged the military not to target civilians, including residential houses, religious buildings, schools, hospitals, and clinics.
Local sources say the rebel group has already captured ten townships in Rakhine and neighboring Chin state since it launched its operation codenamed "Paletwa" last November.
The Arakan rebels are battling to capture the remaining eight townships, including the Rakhine state capital Sittwe.
Local people said the fighting has taken a toll on everyday life in Rakhine state.
A motel owner at Ngapali Beach in Thandwe township, Rakhine state, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his business plummeted since the fighting erupted last year.
He has closed the business and moved all his family to a safe location.
Besides Thandwe, fighting has engulfed other parts of Rakhine, including Taungup township, about 45 miles away.
Media reports say the military junta's relentless aerial bombings and heavy artillery firing have killed an unknown number of civilians in Taungup over the past weeks.
A 17-year-old from Ywarthitkal village was confirmed dead while the military’s attacks left five civilian houses heavily damaged on June 15, said a resident.
Local people appealed to the military not to target villages, cities, and residential areas.
"I want to appeal to the military to target only what is relevant to the war. I'm asking them not to target the villages and cities where people live," said another resident in Taungup.
The conflict displaced all people in adjacent villages in Taungup township.
Myanmar’s exiled shadowy National Unity Government (NUG) said it backs Arakan rebels as they target to capture all military camps in Maungdaw.
“I applaud and support the revolutionary movement against the terrorist military council. However, the call to protect people requires us to do our best, regardless of the difficulties,” NUG’s deputy minister for Human Rights U Aung Kyaw Moe said in a recent statement.
It claimed that on June 1, the military forces massacred 51 civilians from Byaing Phyu village and set fire to three other villages in Sittwe township of Rakhine.
“The terrorist military council must be held responsible for the deliberate and systematic massive atrocities committed against civilians in Rakhine State,” said Moe.
