Kyaukphyu shaken by huge blast as AA, Myanmar military clash

Residents of Kyaukphyu, one of the last towns in Rakhine State still under junta control, reported a massive explosion late Monday night amid renewed clashes between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA). “At about 7pm last night, a huge blast shook the entire town. It was quite close. Then we heard another explosion at around 2am,” a man living in the town told Myanmar Now on Tuesday. Fighting near the major port town has increased in recent days, as residents report seeing more naval vessels patrolling just off the coast. The junta has reportedly been carrying out airstrikes and artillery and drone attacks in the area since the latest clashes began. Kyaukphyu is one of just three towns in the state that remain under the control of Myanmar’s military. The others are the state capital Sittwe and Munaung, located on an island south of Kyaukphyu. Although the military still occupies the town, a police station on its southern outskirts and a naval base and onshore gas terminal within the town have been blockaded by AA forces. On Monday, an airstrike on Kyauk Pyauk, a village in the southern part of Kyaukphyu Township, left an elderly monk injured, sources there reported. “Junta aircraft launched an airstrike and struck Kyauk Pyauk’s monastery, injuring a monk,” a resident said, adding that the 93-year-old victim had been sheltering at the monastery after being displaced from his home village. Photos of the aftermath of the attack show that a bomb dropped inside the monastery by a junta fighter jet caused extensive damage to several buildings. Meanwhile, there were also reports that Brig-Gen Kyaw Swar Oo, who heads the junta’s Western Regional Military Command (RMC), was in Kyaukphyu on Monday to visit injured soldiers receiving treatment at a hospital in the town. The general travelled to Kyaukphyu from Sittwe, where he has been living since before the AA captured the Western RMC headquarters in Ann Township late last year. His visit to Kyaukphyu was his first public appearance since assuming his position as regional commander. In recent days, artillery fire from junta bases in Sittwe has targeted villages in Rathedaung, Pauktaw, and Ponnagyun townships, threatening the safety of local residents. The AA has taken control of 14 out of 17 townships in Rakhine State, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State. The group has vowed to force the Myanmar military out of Rakhine State entirely.

Kyaukphyu shaken by huge blast as AA, Myanmar military clash

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