Myanmar military concentrates its firepower on Ramree

Junta forces continued to attack Ramree (Yanbye) Township, Rakhine State this week, using a new, highly destructive type of bomb and causing indiscriminate destruction in all six wards, residents and anti-junta armed groups said. The Myanmar military’s assaults on the town have continued for weeks, ultimately leading to the air force’s use of 500-pound bombs on Tuesday, according to the Arakan Army (AA), the ethnic armed group fighting against regime forces in the state. The junta’s air force bombed Ramree on Saturday starting at 9am. The airstrikes continued throughout the day while naval warships on nearby rivers shelled the town using heavy artillery, according to a statement issued by the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the AA as a member. These attacks destroyed more than 200 houses, including virtually all of Ward 4, the Brotherhood Alliance’s statement said. A Ramree ward after a fire, seen on January 28 (Beauty of Ramarwaddy) Shells fired from the junta base at Thein Taung pagoda the next day leveled civilian houses, clinics, hospitals, schools, religious buildings and public property, ultimately destroying most standing structures throughout township, according to a statement by the humanitarian development coordination office of United League of Arakan (ULA), the AA’s political wing. The following Tuesday, junta aircraft strafed the ground with bullets near Ramree at around 2pm before dropping 500-pound bombs, an AA statement said. Aftermath of an airstrike on Ramree According to the AA’s statement, which was accompanied by video footage, the 500-pound used by the air force on Tuesday differed from those they had used in the past. They were not only notably louder and more destructive, but also raised columns of smoke and debris more than 100 feet above the ground. “Although there hasn’t been any fighting on the ground here, the junta air force is bombing at will. Some of the airstrikes were very obviously targeted at civilian houses,” said a local man who was forced to flee Ramree. “Over 300 houses were destroyed in the fires, and there’s a lot of other damage too. You could say the entire town has been annihilated,” the displaced man added. Fires destroy one of Ramree Township’s wards on February 14 (HDCO) Thousands of locals have left their homes in Ramree Township due to the junta’s attacks, fleeing to any villages they can reach. The displaced man told Myanmar Now that junta aircraft had now started flying over Ramree Township’s rural villages, terrifying the civilian inhabitants. He added that he believes the military intends to destroy the town of Ramree completely. “I think it’s safe to assume that they are deliberately ruining people’s livelihoods, considering they have already destroyed the Ma Ei bridge, which connects to Ramree Township, and the Min Chaung bridge,” he said. The military destroyed the Ma-Ei and Min Chaung bridges in Toungup Township, located on the only road connecting the Rakhine State towns of Ann and Kyaukphyu with Yangon and rendering the route impassable last week. The blast also damaged the town’s high school and several civilian houses, according to the AA. Map showing Ramree Township’s location on Myanmar’s Bay of Bengal coast The displaced man added that authorities have also “blocked all the waterways,” referring to prohibitions on boat travel that have been in effect for weeks on Ramree Island. “So it isn’t surprising that the public believes that the military is trying to raze the whole township to the ground,” he said. The Brotherhood Alliance—including the AA—concurs with the impression, widespread among local people, that the military is intentionally trying to “raze” towns in Rakhine State. In a statement issued on January 25, the alliance said the goal of the army, navy, and air force in recent attacks on Pauktaw Township—which had recently been captured by the AA—was the total destruction of the town. “We do not want the military’s terrible actions harming the lives of the Rakhine people to go on like this,” the displaced man from Ramree added, referring to the township’s majority ethnic group. “That’s why more people are beginning to embrace the AA.” Two months of combat in Ramree Battles in Ramree Township’s urban wards have been ongoing since December, when the AA attacked junta forces at Thein Taung Pagoda and near Ramree Myoma Market in Ward 5, after which the retaliatory attacks by the army, navy, and air force escalated steadily for weeks. Junta aircraft bombed Ramree more than 30 times on January 24 alone, destroying much of the Ramarwaddy Market west of the Myoma police station and setting fire to buildings near the community hall in the town centre. The air force continued to bomb other parts of the town for the next two days, with the junta force stationed at Thein Taung pagoda shelling incessantly at the same time. The destroyed central hospital and Myoma Market in Ramree (AA Info Desk) Locals told Myanmar Now in late January that almost the entire town had already suffered damage from non-stop air and artillery strikes. “They started bombing at around 10 am,” said one local man in his 40s, recalling an airstrike on January 26. “There were some fires in the town but we could only see them from a distance because we had already fled. We could see smoke rising from the town.” “They didn’t attack other townships like they did Ramree. I don’t know why,” he added. In the first week of February, the Brotherhood Alliance issued a statement saying the junta infantry troops stationed at Thein Taung Pagoda had also begun to carry out arson attacks, advancing from their base to torch civilian houses in the town. The Brotherhood Alliance and the struggle for Rakhine State The destruction of Ramree is taking place amid a broader conflict between the Myanmar military and the AA for control of Rakhine State. Just over two weeks after the Brotherhood Alliance launched its Operation 1027 offensive in northern Shan State in late October, the AA initiated attacks on military positions in Rakhine State and the neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State on November 13, 2023. Since November, the AA has overrun more than 200 junta bases and succeeded in taking over the towns of Paletwa, Pauktaw, Kyauk Taw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, and Myebon, and continues to gain ground in the Rakhine State. Most recently, the AA issued a statement on Tuesday claiming to have launched attacks three days before on an important army training centre near Kanni village in Minbya Township. AA troops seen after seizing army bases in Minbya on February 16 (AA Info Desk) The ULA, the AA’s political wing, issued an announcement on the same day that included advisories for the state’s civilian population and details on policies and procedures that the ULA is implementing in Rakhine State. The ULA called on the Myanmar military regime to stop committing atrocities, adding that members of the junta forces who had committed war crimes would be prosecuted in military tribunals according to the ULA’s and AA’s laws. The Brotherhood Alliance previously issued a statement at the end of January claiming the military was deploying “toxic gases” in its operations, which would constitute a breach of international laws against the use of chemical weapons. The military council denied this claim, stating that such “rumours” were the fabrications of “terrorist media.” The ULA also said it would seek justice for the families of victims killed by junta forces and claimed that all prisoners of war in ULA/AA custody were being treated in accordance with international laws and conventions. The ULA also urged the public to seek refuge in territories under AA/ULA control rather than staying in regime-controlled areas.

Myanmar military concentrates its firepower on Ramree

Local civilians and anti-junta groups both believe Myanmar’s military regime intends to ‘raze’ the town of Ramree ‘to the ground’

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