Five civilians were killed and nine were injured by air and artillery strikes in Yoetayoke, Kuntaung and Aungphyupyin villages of Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, on Friday. Ponnagyun, located 21 miles (33 km) northeast of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, was seized by the Arakan Army (AA) in March 2024.
“Four women and a man were killed instantly. Three women and four men were severely injured after two bombs landed on Yoetayoke village,” a Ponnagyun resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
A resident of Ponnagyun’s Aungphyupyin village told DVB that one woman was injured and an unknown number of homes were destroyed in an airstrike on Nov. 7. DVB has documented that 1,849 people have been killed in 2,321 airstrikes so far this year.
The regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 344 in Sittwe fired artillery shells at Ponnagyun Township injuring a 55-year-old man, residents added. “The military intentionally targets civilians,” another Ponnagyun resident told DVB.
Four civilians, including a child, were also killed and nine others were injured by air and artillery strikes on Ponnagyun’s Pannila village on Oct. 31.
The AA stated on Oct. 31 that there has been an increase in the number of airstrikes in Arakan since its fellow Brotherhood Alliance member, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), agreed to a China-brokered ceasefire with the regime on Oct. 29.
The TNLA has reportedly agreed to withdraw its forces from Mogok in Mandalay Region and Momeik in northern Shan State as a part of the ceasefire.
The third Brotherhood Alliance member, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) signed its own China-brokered ceasefire with the regime in Naypyidaw on Jan. 18.
It handed over Lashio Township in northern Shan State and the regime’s Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters, seized during its Operation 1027 offensive, back to Naypyidaw’s control as a part of its ceasefire deal on April 22.
The AA urged residents living in territory under its control to be alert for more regime air and artillery attacks. The AA has seized control of 14 out of Arakan’s total 17 townships, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chinland, since it launched a statewide offensive on Nov. 13, 2023.
