The Myanmar military has significantly escalated its air and naval campaign across Arakan State, launching devastating strikes on civilian areas and vital commercial infrastructure.
The multi-township bombardment on Wednesday resulted in at least 10 civilian deaths, dozens of severe injuries, and the destruction of a key trade jetty connected to international shipping routes.
Military analysts describe the surging aerial blitz as a direct, punitive response by a cornered regime to the Arakan Army’s (AA) near-total territorial control over the state.
Kyauktaw hammered: India trade jetty targeted
On June 17, the Myanmar Air Force executed a massive raid on Kyauktaw town, killing eight civilians and wounding at least 18 others. Eyewitnesses reported that fighter jets dropped a cluster of heavy ordnance across purely commercial and residential zones.
“At least 14 bombs were dropped on four locations including a jetty where merchants received goods from India. It was horrible. The death toll might increase,” a Kyauktaw resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
The targeted strike destroyed at least 20 homes and leveled critical parts of the local riverfront infrastructure. Kyauktaw, situated roughly 60 miles (96 km) north of the heavily fortified state capital of Sittwe, has been administered by the Arakan Army since it was seized in February 2024.
Local residents expressed profound terror over what they characterized as the deliberate, systematic targeting of non-military, economic infrastructure.
Bombs hit Gwa and contested Kyaukphyu
The aerial campaign also struck heavily across the southern reaches of the state between June 14 and June 15, resulting in more civilian casualties:
- The Gwa bombings: In Gwa Township—located 504 miles south of Sittwe and liberated by the AA in late 2024—the Air Force dropped three 500-lb bombs on Rammakyun village on June 15. The attack killed two civilians and critically injured eight others, including multiple children. The day prior, a separate strike by two fighter jets flattened a local school and several homes in Kyaukkyun village.
- The battle for Kyaukphyu: Combined forces of the Myanmar Navy and Air Force have unleashed relentless daily assaults on Kyaukphyu Township since the first week of June. On June 15, naval shelling and air raids destroyed five homes and wiped out local livestock.
Fierce ground clashes have been raging near Kyaukphyu’s Taung Maw Gyi Naval Base since June 6.
Kyaukphyu remains one of the most geopolitically sensitive flashpoints in the country, serving as the terminal hub for Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including a deep-sea port, natural gas facilities, and cross-border oil pipelines running directly to China’s Yunnan Province.
Spillovers and counter-offensives: Bago Region
The military’s desperation has triggered cross-regional spillover. On June 14, regime forces initiated a fierce counteroffensive in the neighbouring Bago Region, attempting to retake the Nyaungkyo military outpost in Pandaung Township.
The Nyaungkyo outpost, which sits just 10 miles from the critical Directorate of Defence Industries (DDI 6 / KaPaSa 6) weapons factory, was captured by the AA in April 2025.
The base commands the Pandaung-Taungup road—the vital logistical highway connecting central Bago to Arakan’s Taungup Township, which the AA seized in November 2024.
Strategic Map: A defeated regime retaliates
Arakan State Territorial Control (June 2026)
├── Arakan Army (AA): 14 out of 17 Arakan townships + Chin's Paletwa
└── Military Regime: Sittwe (Capital), Manaung Island, and Kyaukphyu Town
A local military analyst told DVB that the regime’s reliance on indiscriminate air and artillery strikes is an admission of its inability to hold territory on the ground.
Since launching its sweeping offensive on November 13, 2023, the Arakan Army has completely routed the military from 14 out of 17 townships in Arakan State, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State.
With its ground forces confined to isolated, heavily fortified garrisons in Sittwe, Manaung, and parts of Kyaukphyu, the regime is using its uncontested air superiority to exact an immense economic and human toll on the civilian population.
In response to the intensifying air raids, the AA command has issued an urgent advisory warning all residents within liberated territories to remain on high alert and construct reinforced bomb shelters.
