Buthidaung: An army airbase is being constructed by the military junta in Buthidaung Township in northern Arakan near the Bangladesh border with the aim of strengthening the military on the western border, said a reliable local source in the area.

The airbase is located at War Kut Chaung area near the Military Operation Planning Bureau based in Buthidaung, 80 miles north of Arakan State's capital Sittwe.

According to a local source, most of the workers on the airbase construction site are soldiers and their families from Burma that are stationed in the area.

The army authority has also hired some local people as employees, but they are also pro-military government, the source said.

Lt. General Maung Aye and other high army officials including the chief of air staff and a navy admiral reportedly visited the new airbase during their trip to Arakan from 10 to 15 January, 2009.

A witness said Lt. General Maung Aye and his delegation came to Buthidaung in helicopters and landed at the compound of the Military Operation Planning Bureau to inspect the airbase.

The lieutenant general traveled to the airbase in jeeps from the Military Operation Planning Bureau to inspect the site's construction.

The airbase is being built at the site of a former, smaller airbase that was used by the British during WWII. The former airbase has suffered irreparable damage due to long abandonment and neglect.

The military junta is reportedly building the airbase to accommodate fighter jets. The construction of the airbase began after the Burmese junta found itself in a conflict with Bangladesh over a maritime boundary in November of last year.

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