Resistance blocks junta reinforcements’ path to base on Rakhine-Magway border

Fighters allied with the Arakan Army (AA) thwarted an advance by regime forces toward an air defence base near the Ann-Padan road on the border between Magway Region and Rakhine State this week, according to resistance sources. The military attempted to deploy reinforcement troops to the Nat Yay Kan base in Magway Region’s Ngape Township, according to resistance fighters. Clashes broke out on Tuesday when they encountered resistance forces near the village of Goke Gyi some two miles southeast of the base, the fighters said, and the battle is reportedly ongoing. “Junta troops are trying to push back towards Goke Gyi but they remain unable to advance past the village towards Nat Yay Kan,” a resistance fighter from Ngape Township explained. The regime forces remained unable to break through the resistance groups’ defences and continue towards the air defence base even after calling in air support and additional reinforcements. Goke Gyi serves as a major strategic position in the vicinity of the Nat Yay Kan air defence base and has been occupied by the Arakan Army and its allies since October last year. In mid-December, junta troops briefly took over the village, holding it for less than a day before persistent assaults by the AA-led resistance fighters forced them to withdraw. The Nat Yay Kan base has been under siege by the Arakan Army and its allies since last year, with AA-trained resistance groups in Ngape Township disrupting junta supply routes and fending off advancing columns of junta reinforcement troops. Although the AA came close to capturing the main defence outpost on Nat Yay Kan hill last October, it remains under the military’s control. “There are airstrikes every time they send reinforcements. Y-12 aircraft conduct daily bombardments. But they always stop at Goke Gyi and pull back,” a Magway Region-based resistance fighter said. The Student Armed Force (SAF), a resistance group that had played a vital role in blocking junta advances into Ngape Township, claims to have detained 16 junta soldiers who deserted their posts in the last two months. 13 other soldiers defected from the military and joined the SAF, members of the group said. A statement issued by the SAF on Monday said the group’s members were keeping the junta prisoners of war in conditions that comply with the group’s internal standards as well as international law. Other AA-allied anti-junta groups operating in the area include the Asho Chin Defence Force, Minbu District People’s Defence Force Battalion-2, the People’s Revolution Alliance–Magway, and the Chin Defence Force–Asho. Ngape Township is home to several strategically important military installations, including Artillery Operations Command 905, the Artillery Battalion (AB) 375 and AB 409 bases, and the Directorate of Defence Industries’ No. 14 armaments factory.

Resistance blocks junta reinforcements’ path to base on Rakhine-Magway border

Resistance forces allied with the Arakan Army (AA) are stopping supplies and reinforcements from reaching the Nat Yay Kan air defence base, which has been under siege by the AA since last year

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