Clashes intensify near Rakhine-Magway border as anti-junta forces target key junta base

Heavy fighting has been reported in Magway Region’s Ngape Township, as anti-regime forces led by the Arakan Army (AA) continue to target a strategic junta air defence base near the border with Rakhine State, according to local sources. Clashes have occurred near Nat Yay Kan Hill, where resistance forces have attacked junta outposts surrounding the air defence base, a spokesperson for the Asho Chin Defense Force, a local resistance group, told Myanmar Now on Wednesday. “Junta guard posts near their main base are under attack. Battles are ongoing at the top of Nat Yay Kan Hill,” the spokesperson said. Sources close to the AA confirmed that two villages near the base, Linde and Sun Tet, are both under the control of anti-regime forces. “Junta troops have retreated after encountering resistance near the Nat Yay Kan base in recent days,” said one source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Nat Yay Kan air defence base is one of six major military bases in Ngape Township and the closest to AA-controlled Ann Township in Rakhine State. Ngape Township is also home to the No. 905 artillery command headquarters, two other junta artillery bases, and armament factories. Despite announcing a temporary ceasefire in the wake of a major earthquake that hit central Myanmar on March 28, the military regime deployed reinforcements to the Nat Yay Kan base last month, local resistance forces reported. According to Zin Yaw, a former Myanmar army captain who defected to the resistance, troops from other parts of Magway Region have been sent to Ngape to defend it from resistance attacks. “Junta troops from neighbouring Min Hla and Thayet townships are also being deployed to Ngape,” he said. The regime has also intensified its pressure on villages in the area, according to locals. “Junta troops resumed heavy artillery fire three days ago,” said a man from Zin Pyun, a village located about 13 miles southwest of the air defence base. “They also ordered villages in the area to form people’s militia units and restricted the flow of food supplies at a checkpoint near Padan,” the man said, referring to a key village on the main road linking Ann Township to Magway Region. Clashes have been frequent along the Ann-Padan route since the beginning of the year, as the junta reinforces its defences to block the AA’s advance into Magway. Military aircraft also carried out several airstrikes on Linde, near the Nat Yay Kan base, in February and March, killing at least three civilians and injuring 10, according to local sources.Fighting has escalated in Ngape Township since the AA captured the junta's Western Regional Military Command headquarters in Ann late last year, forcing more than 3,000 people to flee the area.

Clashes intensify near Rakhine-Magway border as anti-junta forces target key junta base

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