Fighting intensifies near Kyaukphyu, amid reports of a deadly airstrike in Rakhine State’s north

Clashes between Myanmar’s military and anti-junta forces led by the Arakan Army (AA) continued in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu Township on Tuesday, a day after deadly airstrikes were reported in the north of the state. According to a displaced man from Kyaukphyu, the regime carried out drones attacks on a village about five miles southwest of the town on Tuesday, inflicting heavy damage on a local monastery. “Fighting was really intense yesterday,” said the man, speaking to Myanmar Now on Wednesday. “The monastery in Leik Khha Maw Haung was hit by a drone strike and caught fire at around 3am.” The monastery is located less than two miles north of an onshore gas terminal operated by South Korea’s POSCO Corporation, used to transport natural gas to China via a 793-km pipeline that runs through Rakhine State, Mandalay Region, and northern Shan State. No civilian casualties were reported in the incident, as most residents had fled the area a few days earlier. The two sides have continued to clash despite the extension of temporary ceasefire announced early last month in response to a deadly earthquake that hit central Myanmar on March 28. According to AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha, the fighting has shown no signs of relenting because of the junta’s ongoing artillery shelling and drone assaults in Kyaukphyu and Sittwe townships. “They are pushing into our areas and carrying out daily attacks on us in Kyaukphyu,” he said. “The battle is most intense on the outskirts of the town. We have to fight back in order to defend ourselves in some areas.” The group also condemned an airstrike on a village near the AA-controlled town of Rathedaung on Tuesday that reportedly killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 20 others. The aerial attack occurred in Htun Ya Wai, a village roughly three miles east of Rathedaung in northern Rakhine State. There were no reports of fighting in the area at the time of the assault, which the AA has called a war crime. But the fighting has been fiercest near Kyaukphyu, which is one of only three major towns in Rakhine State that remain under regime control. The others are the state capital Sittwe and Manaung, located on an island in the Bay of Bengal. A Kyaukphyu man who spoke to Myanmar Now on Monday said that junta bases near the town have been launching artillery strikes on AA targets on a daily basis. “It’s still safe here, but we can hear the sound of shelling almost every day,” the man said, adding that the conflict has made transportation difficult and driven up prices. “We are facing a fuel shortage and have to rely on firewood and dry tree branches,” he said. Around a third of Kyaukphyu’s urban population remains trapped in the town due to junta restrictions that prevent residents from leaving. Meanwhile, around 20,000 people living in surrounding areas have been forced to flee their homes, according to workers at a mobile clinic assisting the displaced. Since February 20, residents of more than 20 villages have been displaced in Kyaukphyu Township due to junta airstrikes and drone attacks on resistance targets near a key navy base about a 10-mile drive from Kyaukphyu.

Fighting intensifies near Kyaukphyu, amid reports of a deadly airstrike in Rakhine State’s north

An aerial assault on a village near the AA-controlled town of Rathedaung reportedly left at least 10 civilians dead on Tuesday

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