A long row of charred vehicles destroyed along the Ann-Padan road underscores how volatile and contested this strategic route has become in recent years (Photo: Nyi Htwe / Myanmar Now)
For more than a year, the Arakan Army (AA) has seized large swathes of territory in western Myanmar along the Bay of Bengal and has been pushing into Magway Region in central Myanmar.
Embedded with a local resistance group allied with the AA, Myanmar Now journalist Nyi Htway travelled to the mountainous areas linking Rakhine State and central Myanmar where fighting is still raging today. For 10 days, he documented how the war has devastated this crucial path.
A residential home is seen totally devastated, likely from an airstrike, along Magway Region’s Ann-Padan road (Photo: Nyi Htwe / Myanmar Now)
Along this route, clashes have been taking place between the Arakan Army (AA) and allied revolutionary forces and troops of the junta. Numerous military vehicles abandoned by fleeing junta soldiers—left behind in haste—can be seen destroyed in airstrikes.
Burned-out vehicles, twisted military hardware and human remains lie scattered along the roadside. Most residents from nearby villages have fled, as aerial bombardment and artillery fire have reduced homes to ash.
Along the 64-mile Ann–Padan road linking Rakhine State and Magway Region, the AA and allied forces launched an offensive in the second week of February 2025 against a key military installation known as Nat Yae Kan.
Nat Yae Kan base, about 15 miles from Padan village in Ngape Township, Magway Region, holds strategic weight. Once an air defence outpost, it has since been reinforced with additional troops as fighting intensifies, with AA and allied forces encircling nearby villages.
If the base falls, the AA and its allies could advance deeper into Magway Region—home to several of the military’s weapons factories—explaining the junta’s fierce defence and steady flow of reinforcements.
These images capture the scars of a contested frontier, scorched roads, abandoned homes and the imprint of a fight that is reshaping the balance of power between Rakhine and Magway Region.
