An ethnic Chin group has called on the rebel Arakan Army (AA) to release 52 residents it abducted from Paletwa township in western Myanmar’s Chin state during a clash earlier this year with Myanmar forces that spilled over from armed conflict in adjacent Rakhine state, the head of the group said, according to an RFA report.

The appeal from the Khumi Affairs Consultative Council (KACC) came as the AA warned of potential severe fighting in Rakhine because the Myanmar army has deployed more troops in the state, where hostilities flared up late last year, claiming scores of lives on both sides.

The KACC issued a statement on Sunday demanding the release of the residents from a dozen households in Chin state who were taken away by AA soldiers following a clash with government troops near Kintalin village on Feb. 2.