Clashes have escalated across Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine State after the junta declared elections in the Chinese investment hub, with heavy air and artillery strikes driving tens of thousands of residents from their homes.
Battle zones previously confined to areas 8 kilometers from Kyaukphyu town and 6 km from neighboring Danyawaddy naval base have doubled in size after the junta reinforced troops and launched counteroffensives, according to residents.
“Fighting near Minpyin village is very intense. The Myanmar military has been pushing into Minpyin after recapturing Thaing Chaung Taung Mountain. Battles are now raging around Minpyin and Thaing Chaung, with daily [junta] airstrikes,” a source close to the Arakan Army (AA) told The Irrawaddy.
On Friday, junta forces seized the AA’s Thaing Chaung Taung hilltop camp, which overlooks Minpyin just south of Kyaukphyu town, and advanced on other AA positions nearby. However, the ethnic army has since retaken Minpyin and is striking junta bases along the road to Kyaukphyu town and naval base headquarters.
“The military has suffered heavy losses. They have retreated back toward Thain Chaung Taung and the AA is regaining ground,” the source said.
Residents report the junta has deployed more than 1,000 reinforcements and tanks in Kyaukphyu, home to three infantry battalions, a police battalion, and three naval bases including a naval headquarters. Sources also claim China is providing junta forces with drones and technical support, though The Irrawaddy could not independently verify this. Kyaukphyu’s deep-sea port and special economic zone form a key node in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, providing China with access to the Indian Ocean.
Civilian casualties are mounting as fighting escalates. On Monday, junta aircraft bombed Taungngu village, 32 km from Kyaukphyu, killing three women and injuring at least five others, including two children. The same day, bombs struck Kyaukkalay and Leiktin villages, destroying a school in Leiktin. Children escaped injury only because they had been evacuated earlier, the AA said.
“They deliberately targeted the school. We were lucky the children had been moved. But the navy shells villages every day, robbing the livelihoods of locals. People can’t go fishing anymore—they live in constant fear,” a Kyaukphyu resident told The Irrawaddy.
Local aid workers estimate that around 20 villages have emptied, with as many as 10,000 new internally displaced people (IDPs) joining the tens of thousands already displaced in Kyaukphyu.
“IDPs were taking shelter in places like Minpyin and Taungngu. Now they have been forced to flee from those villages. They dare not stay any longer because warplanes keep coming. As many as 10,000 people have fled,” said one relief worker.
Humanitarian needs are urgent, with IDPs lacking shelter and food. Aid groups say Kyaukphyu now hosts around 50,000 displaced people, up from 40,000 earlier this year.
Food prices have soared as clashes intensify in Kyaukphyu, where the main livelihood is fishing rather than farming. The junta has sealed off Kyaukphyu town and restricted the transport of goods and medicines. Civilians report severe shortages and worsening hardship.
