The Arakan Army (AA) claims to have killed around 80 junta reinforcements airlifted to Ramree in Rakhine State during a three-day battle for the coastal town.
On Saturday, four military transport helicopters transported 120 soldiers to Ramree town in a bid to halt the advance of AA forces.
The troops came from Infantry Battalion 36 based in Ayeyarwady Region’s Kyonpyaw Township and Light Infantry Battalion 373 based in Rakhine’s Ann Township.
The AA said around 60 of the reinforcements were killed during fighting on Saturday, despite being supported by heavy junta airstrikes. Bodies of the soldiers were retrieved along with a large cache of weapons and ammunition, it added.
The ethnic army said another 20 regime troops were killed as they retreated from the island township on Monday, adding that its forces also seized ammunition and food supplies dropped by a junta Harbin Y-12 transport aircraft.
Clashes in the township began in mid-December when AA troops attacked regime forces stationed at the Aung Chan Thar hilltop pagoda south of Ramree town.
Since then, the junta has been relentlessly bombarding the town from the air, sea and land. Junta shells and bombs have destroyed houses and buildings including the township hospital and Ramree town markets.
Elsewhere in Rakhine State, the AA said it continued to attack the 9th Central Military Training School near Kan Ni village in Minbya Township on Monday as the junta launched heavy airstrikes to defend the stronghold. AA forces have seized several outposts at the school since launching the assault on Feb. 17.
They also continued assaults to seize remaining junta strongholds in Ponnagyun, Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on Monday.
Regime troops have retaliated to a series of humiliating defeats across Rakhine by intensifying attacks on civilian targets.
Patients and staff were injured when a junta fighter jet bombed a public hospital in Min Phoo village, Minbya Township, at 1.45 am on Tuesday, the AA said.
Hospital staff were at the time treating patients, including captured junta soldiers and their family members, it added.
A separate attack on Tuesday morning saw a junta aircraft bombard Minbya’s Thay Kan Village and a nearby school sheltering displaced people, injuring 25 civilians, according to local media reports.
The attack destroyed school buildings, houses and vehicles.
AA commander Major General Tun Myat Naing has called on junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and his generals to accept defeat in Rakhine and halt attacks on unarmed civilians and youths.
“I respect your military skills and hard work, but you are surely losing this war. Being a good loser is the only and best option for you all,” the AA chief posted on X/Twitter on Monday.
Addressing the targeting of civilians, he urged the generals to, “think about the dignity of your descendants, even if you don’t care about your own dignity.”
The AA is a member of the tripartite ethnic Brotherhood Alliance, which launched the anti-regime Operation 1027 in northern Shan State on Oct. 27 last year. The alliance has since captured some 20 towns and several hundred junta bases, including several military command centers, as well as vital trade routes with China.
The operation was halted in northern Shan State after the alliance agreed to a China-brokered ceasefire deal with the regime in mid-January.
However, the AA has continued Operation 1027 in Rakhine State and neighboring Paletwa Township in southern Chin State, where it has now seized over 170 junta bases and seven towns.
The AA has also joined with other ethnic armies and resistance groups to attack regime targets in upper Sagaing Region and Kachin State.
