Myanmar’s military launches massive air assault as AA fights for control of southern Rakhine town

Fighting has intensified around the town of Ramree in southern Rakhine State in recent days as a major new battleground opens between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA). In a statement released late Wednesday, the AA said the junta had launched dozens of airstrikes on the town during the past two days of clashes, including 33 on that day alone. “Today was the worst in terms of the number of airstrikes. Shops and houses were burned down and bridges were damaged,” the group claimed in its statement. Until this week, fighting between the two sides has centred mainly on northern Rakhine and southern Chin states, where the AA has captured a number of key towns since the start of the year as part of an offensive that it launched in mid-November. Last Friday, the group claimed it had taken control of Pauktaw, a town near the Rakhine State capital Sittwe, just days after capturing Paletwa in southern Chin State. According to a resident of Ramree, clashes first broke out in the town on December 18, but serious fighting did not begin until this week. Most of the town’s more than 3,000 inhabitants are now sheltering in neighbouring villages, he added. “Everyone is gone now. We can see the town being burned down by artillery shelling and airstrikes. I saw smoke billowing from at least five places,” he said. “I hear that the AA has closed in on the town, surrounding the military’s troops,” he said, adding that he has also seen helicopters flying into the town with supplies for the soldiers stationed there. While no civilian casualties have been reported around Ramree in recent days, the military’s indiscriminate use of heavy artillery and airstrikes has taken a heavy toll in other areas. According to figures compiled by the AA’s political wing, the United League of Arakan, the regime’s attacks have killed at least 61 people and injured another 260 in Rakhine State since the start of the conflict. The latest victims were reported on Wednesday in the northern Rakhine townships of Minbya, Maungdaw, and Buthidaung, where a total of at least five people were killed, according to local media. In one incident in Buthidaung, three Rohingya children were killed and at least 15 others were injured after a junta convoy that had come under attack by the AA opened fire on the village of Maung Hnama with heavy artillery. “The AA left the scene soon after the attack, but the soldiers started shelling for about two hours,” said a local man, adding that the three children who were killed were siblings. Although Ramree is the current focus of its efforts in southern Rakhine State, the AA has also carried out attacks recently near Kyaukphyu, which is also located on Ramree (Yanbye) Island. On Monday, the group reportedly fired missiles at the Danywaddy naval base just outside of the town, which is near the site of major Chinese-backed investment projects, including pipelines and a recently renegotiated special economic zone. As the conflict continues, much of Rakhine State has been effectively cut off from the rest of the country. Most roads have been closed and phone and internet connections have also been blocked in most of northern Rakhine.

Myanmar’s military launches massive air assault as AA fights for control of southern Rakhine town

Ramree has become the latest target of the ethnic Rakhine armed group’s ongoing offensive in western Myanmar

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