Arakan Army repels junta advances as clashes intensify in Kyaukphyu

By Admin 14 Sep 2026

DMG Newsroom

14 September 2026, Kyaukphyu

Clashes continue across Kyaukphyu Township following renewed military maneuvers by the military junta, with the Arakan Army seizing weapons, ammunition, and bodies of junta soldiers during recent engagements, according to military sources.

Heavy fighting erupted on September 9 and 10 when Arakan Army forces intercepted a junta column advancing from Awa Taung Village near Taung Maw Oo naval station in Kyaukphyu Township.

Junta troops suffered significant casualties during the two-day engagement, prompting the regime to deploy air support and naval artillery cover as Arakan Army troops captured weapons, military equipment, and several bodies.

Military junta forces continue operations near Taung Maw Oo naval station and surrounding areas, including Kyaungkho, Chaungphyar, and Minpyin villages, leading to frequent skirmishes.

“Junta warships are firing continuously. The military regime is desperately pushing ground offensives,” a local ground source said.

Earlier, on September 4, junta troops attempted to advance from Awa Taung Village near Taung Maw Oo naval station toward Sanae Town, an area controlled by the Arakan Army, but were forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses.

In a recent interview with DMG, Captain Zin Yaw, a military defector, said the junta is exploiting the Arakan Army’s restrained operational posture around Kyaukphyu, where major Chinese investment projects are located, to launch aggressive offensives.

“The only remaining ground footholds for the military regime in Arakan State are Sittwe and Kyaukphyu. To leverage these two strategic positions for future military or political gains, the regime will likely execute its most violent and ruthless offensives here,” Captain Zin Yaw said.

Meanwhile, along the Sittwe-Ponnagyun border, the military junta launched “Operation 4926” on September 4 in a bid to establish a foothold in Ponnagyun Township, an area under Arakan Army control, triggering intense clashes.

Military sources said the junta is exerting military pressure by targeting civilian villages in Kyaukphyu Township with fighter jets, drones, and naval artillery.

Indiscriminate aerial and artillery strikes have forced residents from Zinchaung, Kyaukphyauk, Wamyaung, Ngaoak, and Kyaukkalay villages, as well as communities near Sanae Town, to flee their homes for safer areas.

“Between artillery fire from junta navy ships and explosions during active clashes, residents can no longer stay safely. Everyone has fled,” a local man in Kyaukphyu Township said.

A local aid worker in Kyaukphyu Township added, “Whenever the junta navy operates, civilians in nearby villages are forced to flee repeatedly. People run during active shelling and return when quiet returns, but the military regime regularly lashes out at civilian areas whenever they suffer heavy casualties.”

Since mid-2025, the military junta has deployed thousands of troops alongside naval and air assets in repeated attempts to breach Arakan Army lines in Kyaukphyu Township.

However, defensive counterattacks by the Arakan Army have repeatedly repelled junta forces, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them to retreat.

Although fighting persists due to repeated junta advances into areas controlled by the Arakan Army, the group maintains a defensive posture without mounting major forward offensives in the area.

Fighting in Kyaukphyu Township, which broke out on February 20, 2024, has persisted for over two years, leaving more than 60,000 internally displaced persons in urgent need of humanitarian aid and basic relief.