Banks in Sittwe have closed as Arakan Army (AA) shelling threatens the Rakhine State capital.
An employee said all private and state-owned Myanma Economic Bank branches stopped operations on Thursday as fighting approaches.
“All the private banks, including ours, began arranging on Monday to send all staff back to their hometowns,” said the staff member of a private bank.
He said security guards and a few staff remain in each branch but they are not open to customers, who cannot withdraw savings or make transactions.
The Rakhine media reported that money has been moved this week to Yangon.
Sittwe residents are prevented from leaving the city by both road and water by the regime, which has been preparing defensive bunkers in over 20 villages around Sittwe since last year.
“The AA in Rathedaung, Ponnagyun and Pauktaw is shelling Sittwe and junta outposts around the city,” said U San, a Sittwe resident.
The junta is responding with shelling and airstrikes and has reinforced its Sittwe garrison by air.
Sittwe houses an engineer battalion, a regional operations command headquarters, Light Infantry battalions 344 and 354, several police battalions, Infantry battalions 270, 232 and 20 and an artillery battalion.
Since November 2023, the AA has seized 14 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships and Paletwa Township in southern Chin State.
It has recently expanded into Ayeyarwady, Magwe and Bago regions.
