Regime drops bombs on villages along Sittwe-Ponnagyun border

By Admin 30 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
30 September 2024, Sittwe

A junta jet fighter is reported to have carried out bombing raids on villages along the border of Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships in Arakan State.

The Y-12 aircraft reportedly conducted airstrikes on Tawkan, Wahbo, Minhla and Nyaungyaychaung villages in Sittwe Township and Kuntaung, Aungmyaygon, Sabahtar and Khamaungtaw villages in Ponnagyun Township on September 29.

“A junta jet fighter dropped multiple bombs on several villages in Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships yesterday morning,” a resident of Ponnagyun Township said on Monday.

Four bombs landed and exploded near a monastery in Kuntaung Village and at least two bombs fell in each of the remaining villages. The extent of the damage caused by the junta airstrikes was not immediately clear.

Many locals in the villages where the junta launched the airstrikes had been previously displaced by fighting since the battle for control of Ponnagyun Township began, while some remained in the villages to guard their properties.

Military tensions between the military and Arakkha Army (AA) are running high in Sittwe Township and the AA clashed with the military near Aungmyaygon Village in Ponnagyun Township on September 29.

“We heard loud sounds of junta airstrikes near Aungmyaygon Village yesterday,” said a resident of Sittwe on Monday.

Analysts say the junta, which has suffered a string of military defeats in recent months and is losing territory across large swaths of Myanmar, is using its aerial arsenal with growing frequency out of necessity, as it is no longer capable of attacking with ground forces.

“Using Y-12 aircraft is cheaper in terms of cost and fuel consumption,” said Ko Moe Htet Nay, political and research advisor for Nyan Lin Thit Analytica, a local research group. “As the regime wants to control the area, it can partially use Y-12 planes and take pictures. I think that attacks with aircraft like the Y-12 jet fighters can be carried out for a longer period of time, so that targeted attacks on the population can be carried out more comprehensively.”

The regime has beefed up security in Sittwe, the only remaining city that it holds in northern Arakan State, as the AA has made advances. The Myanmar military has increased its presence in and around Sittwe to defend against anticipated AA attacks.