At least seven civilians were killed and 17 others were injured in airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Pauktaw Township’s Sin Ein village in Arakan State on Saturday.
Wai Hun Aung, a humanitarian aid worker in territory controlled by the Arakan Army (AA), told DVB that five civilians were confirmed dead. Pauktaw, located 131 miles (210 km) east of the state capital Sittwe, was seized by the AA in 2024.
Residents in Sittwe told DVB that fighting between the AA and regime forces is taking place along the road to Pauktaw. “I’m so afraid of airstrikes that I haven’t been able to sleep a single night,” a Sittwe resident told DVB.
At least 420 homes across three villages on Pauktaw’s Ngapi Island have been burned down after artillery was fired by regime forces from Oct. 7-10. No casualties were reported.
Two of nine Myanmar Navy vessels off the coast of Pauktaw were hit by artillery fired by the AA on Oct. 7. A source inside the AA told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the vessels retreated to the regime’s Shwemingan Naval Base in Sittwe.
Residents fled their homes on Ngapi Island in early 2024. Sittwe residents told DVB that artillery fired from an unknown group exploded inside the Sittwe Airport on Oct. 8. No casualties were reported.
At least 70 civilians have been killed in 71 airstrikes and 32 clashes between AA and regime forces since a new counteroffensive began on Sept. 4, according to a new report from The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP-Myanmar).
The AA has yet to lose any territory to regime forces, since it launched its most recent offensive on Nov. 13, 2023 and seized 14 out of Arakan’s 17 townships, as well as neighboring Chin State’s Paletwa Township.
In 2025, it expanded its offensive into neighbouring Ayeyarwady, Bago and Magway regions. Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung remain under regime control.
