Clashes erupt as Arakan Army, allies advance further into Ayeyarwady Region

Battles between the Myanmar military and an alliance of forces led by the Arakan Army (AA) have spread north to the town of Kwin Kauk in Ingapu Township, Ayeyarwady Region since last Thursday, according to locals and anti-junta fighters. The clashes, occurring in an area between the Rakhine Hills (or Rakhine Yoma) and the rest of Ayeyarwady Region, reportedly broke out in Pein Hne Kwin village some eight miles from the military’s Advanced Training School No. 5 for new recruits on the Pathein-Monywa Road. Fighting spread north into Ingapu Township after the AA and its allies captured several villages in Lemyethna Township, which is also near the Rakhine Hills and shares a border with Rakhine State. Fighters of the People’s Defence Forces (PDF)—the armed wing of the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG)—advanced from the nearby village of Chin Kaik Kwin, which is under their control, according to a local man who is assisting civilians displaced by the fighting. “They advanced from the east of the road,” the man said. “One thing is certain: the AA and allies are positioned in the Rakhine Hills all the way to Myanaung and Kyangin,” he added, referring to the northernmost townships in Ayeyarwady Region. “Following the earthquake, things calmed down a bit due to the ceasefire,” he continued. “But before that, the AA and PDF were fighting intensely. They were advancing along the Pathein–Monywa Road at a rate of about 10 miles per day.” Fighting spread up the Pathein-Monywa road to villages in Ingapu Township after the anti-junta forces captured Pan Taw Gyi village in Lemyethna Township earlier this month, he explained. The battles, previously taking place in the Rakhine Hills west of the road, are now mostly occurring on the east side. A force of around 100 junta soldiers withdrew after failing to hold back the AA-led advance, the source added, later establishing an artillery position at the Saytanar Pan Khin Forest Monastery in Pein Hne Kwin village. “They have set up artillery positions at the entrance to the village and are shelling Chin Kaik Kwin from Pein Hne Kwin,” he said. According to AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha, the junta has deployed large formations of troops into Magway, Bago, and Ayeyarwady regions to push back the AA-led advance. “Junta forces are pushing toward our positions in Ayeyarwady, triggering clashes in the area,” he told Myanmar Now last Wednesday. “Because of the ceasefire, we’re not entering most areas where junta forces are present to attack. We’ve suspended our offensive operations. But if they come after us, we have to defend ourselves.” The fighting has forced large numbers of civilians to flee their homes in the area since early March, according to pro-junta propaganda channels on social media. Fighting has also reportedly continued on the Gwa–Ngathaingchaung road—another vital route between Rakhine State and Ayeyarwady Region—since the AA and its allies crossed the Rakhine Hills from Gwa Township, Rakhine State earlier this year. Anti-junta forces are still pushing towards the Ayeyarwady Region towns of Yegyi, Ngathaingchaung, Thabaung, Lemyethna, Ingapu, and Myanaung. The AA-led alliance has been attacking Artillery Battalion (AB) 344 base near Yegyi Township’s Myauk San village, seizing at least two security outposts near the base, while the junta has deployed airstrikes, paramotors, and drones to repel the assaults, according to a source close to the AA. “Security outposts around AB 344 have been seized,” the source told Myanmar Now. “Although they’re just security outposts, their capture puts strategic pressure on the AB 344 base.” “Since then, the airstrikes and paramotor strikes have been targeting Ma Gyi Pin Kwin and surrounding villages,” he said, emphasising that the impact of the junta’s attacks on civilian areas. Surge in displacement The junta has been conducting airstrikes in areas where anti-junta forces are suspected of hiding, displacing thousands of civilian inhabitants from villages on either side of the Gwa-Ngathaingchaung road in Thabaung, Yegyi, Lemyethna, and Ingapu townships. The air force has bombed five villages in Lemyethna Township including Pan Taw Gyi since Sunday, four days after junta ground troops began to raid and occupy villages in Ingapu Township, reinforcing their defences against the AA and allies’ anticipated ground assaults. Thousands of civilians fled their homes as around 200 junta troops advanced into villages east of the Pathein-Monywa road including Pein Hne Kwin, according to a representative of the Ayeyarwady Youth Union, an organisation assisting the displaced. “The fascist army, along with members of the people’s militias, have been patrolling along the Pathein–Monywa Road, arbitrarily detaining and interrogating civilians,” the representative said, referring to Pyu Saw Htee militias armed and trained by the military. “They’re also checking mobile phones and stopping motorcycles to extort money.” Map showing the area of fighting in Ayeyarwady Region bordering Rakhine State in May 2025 The regime’s air force also carried out 20 airstrikes in Yegyi and Lemyethna townships between January and May of this year, killing 15 civilians and injuring around 70 others. Residents are also being threatened and arrested on the pretext of clearance operations, the representative added. “They are enforcing the four cuts strategy in villages west of Lemyethna near the Ngawun River,” he said, referring to the Myanmar military’s decades-old strategy of targeting civilians they suspect of aiding and supplying enemy armed groups. “They’re making people present authorisation letters before letting them transport food, medicine, and goods for businesses.” Having launched a long-term offensive campaign against the Myanmar military in late 2023, the Arakan Army now controls 14 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships as well as Paletwa Township, Chin State, and has begun attacking junta forces beyond Rakhine State’s borders.

Clashes erupt as Arakan Army, allies advance further into Ayeyarwady Region

Having crossed the Rakhine Hills and reached the region’s Ingapu Township, the Arakan Army (AA), joined by allied resistance fighters, is now fighting off counterattacks by regime forces

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