The Arakan Army (AA), along with allied resistance forces, seized Natsinkone and Tawadaing military outposts in Okeshitpin town of Pandaung Township, Bago Region, on Saturday. Pandaung is located 188 miles (302 km) north of the regional capital Bago.

The two outposts are 12 miles (19 km) from the Directorate of Defence Industry (DDI) 6, known in Burmese as KaPaSa 6, located in Nyaung Chay Htauk village of Pandaung Township. DDI 6 refines raw materials for manufacturing arms and ammunition for the military.

“We launched an offensive on the Natsinkone and Tawadaing outposts on Friday and captured [both] the next day,” a source fighting alongside the AA told DVB on the condition of anonymity.

The AA detained an undisclosed number of regime troops that had fled to the outpost in neighbouring Nyaungkyo village. 

The two military outposts seized by the AA are located in between the Nyaungkyo outpost, which is a line of defence for DDI 6 and is located 10 miles (16 km) from Nyaung Chay Htauk village, and the Pakankwalkya outpost in Pandaung Township seized on Feb. 15.

If the AA takes control of the Nyaungkyo outpost, it would pose a “significant threat” to DDI 6, a conflict analyst told DVB. The Myanmar Army and Air Force have retaliated by firing artillery and carrying out airstrikes on AA positions in Bago.

in Arakan State, the Narinjara News Agency reported that the military carried out air- and artillery strikes on AA positions in Kyaukphyu Township after it attacked the Danyawaddy Naval Base on Friday. 

The naval base is located four miles (6 km) from Kyaukphyu, a town with a China-funded deep sea port, which is under regime control. Kyaukphyu is located 318 miles (511 km) southeast of the Arakan State capital Sittwe.   

“The military used drones and heavy weapons near villages and mountains one day after the AA attack,” a Kyaukphyu resident told Narinjara News. 

Kyaukphyu residents claimed that the military threatened to open fire on civilians in Thitpotetaung village, which is located near the Danyawaddy Naval Base, if anyone attempted to flee their homes. 

The AA injured an unknown number of military personnel during an attack on a military convoy and confiscated weapons from the No. 32 Police Battalion in Kyaukphyu on Feb. 20.

Fourteen out of 17 townships in Arakan are under AA control. Kyaukphyu, Sittwe and Manaung are the only three controlled by the regime. The AA expanded its offensive from Arakan into Ayeyarwady, Bago and Magway regions last month.