The Arakan Army (AA) launched renewed attacks outside of Rakhine State on Monday, forcing junta troops out of a coastal Ayeyarwady Region village some 40 miles south of the state boundary, according to local sources.
The AA, Rakhine State’s most powerful ethnic armed group, targeted Baw Mi village in Pathein Township some 15 miles south of Shwethaungyan Town over the last week. The village is roughly an hour’s drive from Gwa Township, Rakhine State.
“They carried out airstrikes on Baw Mi village until the 18th,” an anonymous source from Shwethaungyan told Myanmar Now.
“Today, we can still hear the sounds of artillery shelling.”
Starting on January 16, the regime deployed a range of strikes from the ground, sea, and air. A resident told Myanmar Now that the fighting had temporarily calmed on Sunday and Monday, suggesting the AA had taken control of the village, but clashes have reportedly persisted.
Another source from Shwethaungyan, speaking anonymously, said the majority of the residents have fled the area given the severity of the clashes, shelling and airstrikes.
The number of displaced people is increasing, while the junta imposes stricter entry and exit regulations, the source said. The regime is also monitoring overnight guest registrations, with Rakhine residents in junta-controlled townships facing additional scrutiny. He added that both plainclothed and fully uniformed soldiers are seen moving throughout Pathein.
In Rakhine State, fighting has continued unabated.
Since January 11, the AA has reported heavy fighting in Ann Township involving junta battalions from Light Infantry Divisions 88 and 99 and troops from a group of weapons factories. The AA claimed significant junta casualties, claiming they seized weapons, ammunition, military equipment, and captured junta troops.
Based on a recent AA statement, clashes with junta forces are continuing along the borders of Rakhine State, Ayeyarwady, Bago, and Magway regions, with offensive and defensive battles intensifying for over a week along the Rakhine-Magway border. At the same time, the junta has intensified attacks in and around the city of Sittwe, using heavy artillery, small arms, drones, and snipers.
Further to the northeast in Magway Region, clashes are also ongoing. On January 19, a clash broke out between 15 retreating junta soldiers from Light Infantry Division 99 and the resistance group Asho Chin Defense Force (ACDF), along the Ann-Padan road in Ngape Township, Magway Region.
The ACDF reported killing three junta soldiers and seizing rifles and ammunition during the hour-long battle. At the same time, the AA has said that fighting has persisted for over a week in various small villages along the Ann-Padan road.
Over the last year, the AA has taken the vast majority of Rakhine State, including 14 out of 17 townships in the state, as well as the military’s Western Regional Military Command in Ann Township in December. The AA has signaled openness to peace talks with the regime, but analysts say the junta has shown no signs of preparation for peace talks.
