Regime Minister for Commerce Tun Ohn told a meeting in Naypyidaw on Monday that the deep sea port project in Kyaukphyu Township of Arakan State would continue despite fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and regime forces. Kyaukphyu is located 317 miles (510 km) south of the state capital Sittwe.
“I don’t think any Chinese national will come to Kyaukphyu when there’s an ongoing conflict,” an analyst told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Sources told DVB that the AA and regime forces have been engaged in battle in Kyaukphyu’s Pyaingseke village, considered an “entry gate” to the regime Police Battalion 32, since May 30.
Narinjara News, which covers Arakan, reported that the regime dispatched hundreds of troops as reinforcements by boat from Sittwe to the Danyawaddy Naval Base in Kyaukphyu on Tuesday.
The regime’s Police Battalion 32 is reportedly located two miles (3 km) east of Mala Island, where the Power China gas plant operates. Media reported that the AA attacked regime outposts on the island in May, prompting Chinese employees to evacuate the plant and relocate to Yangon.
The AA seized the regime’s Mintat Taung outpost in Kyaukphyu and detained 15 regime troops on May 30. AA snipers reportedly killed five during the fighting to seize the Hnanpe Taung outpost in Kyaukphyu on May 27.
The regime controls Infantry Battalion 34, Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 542 and 523, the Danyawaddy Naval Base, and Police Battalion 32 in Kyaukphyu.
Regime troops reportedly 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 before they arrived.
The deep sea port in Kyaukphyu serves as a strategic hub town for Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electrical power facilities, and transportation networks.
The AA 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 AA launched an attack on regime forces in Kyaukphyu in February. Kyaukphyu, Sittwe, and the island of Manaung are under regime control.
The AA, along with fellow Brotherhood Alliance members, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), extended its post-earthquake ceasefire until June 30.
On June 1, the regime followed suit and announced that its temporary ceasefire would be extended until the end of the month with no assurances it would continue into July. It has carried out 778 attacks since the ceasefire began on April 2. It has killed at least 591 and injured 1,276 in 918 total attacks since March 28, according to DVB data.
