Sources on the frontline in Arakan State told DVB that more than 60 troops defected from the Myanmar Army to the Arakan Army (AA) in Kyaukphyu Township on June 14. The AA launched its offensive to seize the regime Police Battalion 32 in Kyaukphyu on June 9. 

“They were members of a joint unit from Divisions 99 and 11, and some commanders were among them,” a source with knowledge of the defections told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the battle between regime forces and the AA over control of the police battalion is ongoing.

The anonymous source added that most of the Myanmar Army defectors were forcibly recruited by the regime under its conscription law, enforced by Naypyidaw on Feb. 10, 2024. Kyaukphyu is located 317 miles (510 km) south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe.

The police battalion is located three miles (4.8 km) outside of Kyaukphyu town. Media reported that the regime has reinforced its Infantry Battalion 34, Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 542 and 523, and the Danyawaddy naval base in Kyaukphyu. 

A resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that wounded regime troops have been medivacked to Yangon since June 9. The Kyaukphyu hospital has insufficient staff and medicine, according to the source.

Another resident told DVB that the price of an airline ticket to Yangon has risen up to 500,000 MMK ($110 USD) per person and has become difficult to purchase as regime authorities have reserved most one-way tickets for their troops.

Sources told DVB that the AA detained several regime troops, including a high-ranking officer, after it seized a military outpost in Kyaukphyu’s Mintat Taung village on May 30. AA snipers reportedly killed five during the fighting to seize the Hnanpe Taung outpost in Kyaukphyu on May 27.

The AA offensive against regime outposts in Kyaukphyu began in February. Naypyidaw vowed to continue the deep sea port project in Kyaukphyu as it serves as a strategic hub for Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electrical power facilities, and transportation networks.

The AA has pledged that it will protect foreign investment projects, such as the deep sea port, in Kyaukphyu. It has taken control of 14 townships in Arakan, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, since it launched its most recent offensive on Nov. 13, 2023. 

The regime controls Kyaukphyu, as well as Sittwe, and the island of Manaung. It has yet to report on, or confirm any, regime defections to the resistance since nationwide uprising to the 2021 coup began.