The Arakan Army has started an offensive in Rakhine State’s Ann township where Myanmar’s regime Western Military Command is located. Ann links Rakhine State with Magwe Region, where the Sittwe-Yangon and Minbu-Ann roads meet.
The AA said it is also attacking regime forces in adjacent Ngape Township in Magwe Region. The Ann-Minbu Road passes through Ngape Township. The AA said its troops clashed with the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 346 and other regime troops near Lone village in Ann Township on Tuesday morning.
It said the junta conducted drone attacks and airstrikes to assist its ground troops while nearby bases shelled the area. It said 15 regime soldiers were killed and 15 others injured while two AA troops suffered minor injuries.
On Tuesday, the AA said its troops clashed with around 40 troops near Tone Gyi village in Ngape Township, killing four regime troops and injuring eight others.
Fighting was reported near Chaung Phyar village in Ngape Township on Thursday as AA troops attacked around 50 troops in a mountainous area, it said. The rebel army reported the death of six regime troops and 10 junta injuries. Weapons and ammunition were seized, the AA said. Clashes continued outside Ann town on Wednesday. Personnel and families from Light Infantry Battalion 372 and a logistic base retreated to the Western Command headquarters in Ann town, the Narinjara media group reported, citing residents.
A military analyst told The Irrawaddy: “The junta’s command system for the whole of Rakhine State would be ruined if Ann falls. It is the main entrance to Rakhine, exposing southern Rakhine State.”
The junta has abandoned Ma-ei town near Ann on the Ann-Taungup Road in Taungup Township by blowing up the major bridge on Ann-Taungup Road and another major bridge on Ma-ei- Kyaukphyu Road in the area. The AA has seized Myebon Township next to Ann, encircling the junta hub.
The AA said its troops clashed with the troops of the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 563 in a mountainous area in Myebon Township on Thursday morning.
The AA said it killed eight members of around 50 regime troops in Buthidaung Township, northern Rakhine State, on Monday. It seized the junta’s Taung Bazar base in Buthidaung on Monday.
The AA has occupied about 170 junta positions, including several battalion headquarters, across Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in southern Chin State, since launching an offensive on November 13 last year.
It has seized all of Paletwa Township, six of Rakhine State’s 17 townships and three other towns.