Sources on the frontline in Arakan State told DVB that the Arakan Army (AA) detained several regime troops, including a high-ranking officer, after it seized a military outpost in Mintat Taung village in Kyaukphyu Township on Friday. The port town of Kyaukphyu is located 317 miles (510 km) south of the state capital Sittwe.
“The regime is in retreat in Kyaukphyu,” a source told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Kyaukphyu serves as a strategic hub town for Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electrical power facilities, and transportation networks.
Fighting between the AA and regime forces took place in Kyaukphyu’s Pyaingseke village, considered an “entry gate” to Police Battalion 32, on Friday, another source in Arakan told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
The AA captured the regime’s Hnanpe Taung outpost in Kyaukphyu on Thursday, which served as a guard post for the Police Battalion 32. Pyaingseke, Mintat Taung and Hnanpe Taung are located one mile (1.6 km) from Kyaukphyu’s Police Battalion 32.
Snipers from the AA killed five regime troops in the town on May 25, the source in Arakan added. Infantry Battalion 34, Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 542 and 543, the Danyawaddy Naval Base, and Police Battalion 32, are all under regime control in Kyaukphyu.
Local media in Arakan reported that regime troops positioned themselves inside the OGT gas refinery in Gonchwain village-tract, located five miles (8 km) west of Mintat Taung on May 23. But its Chinese workers had already fled the factory, media reported.
It has taken control of 14 Arakan townships, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, since it launched its most recent offensive on Nov. 13, 2023. The AA began its attack on regime forces in Kyaukphyu in February.
Along with Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, the island of Manaung remains under regime control.
