A junta air attack on Kyauktaw town in Arakan State has killed two civilians and injured five others, according to local residents.

Thousands of local people from at least two dozen villages in Ann Township, Arakan State, have been fleeing to safer locations due to rising tensions between the military and Arakan Army (AA) in the area.

The Arakan Army (AA) is continuing to attack junta positions in Arakan State’s Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, the ethnic armed group said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Arakan Army (AA) is launching attacks on military camps and junta outposts including the Tawhein tactical command base near Kazukaing Village, part of Arakan State’s Ann Township,

Fighting between the military regime and the Arakan Army (AA) has been escalating day by day in southern Arakan State, said the AA’s Nova 1 Military Region on Tuesday.

The regime will reportedly organise this year’s Thingyan festival in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu, where military tensions between the junta and Arakan Army (AA) are running high, on a grand scale.

The regime is putting pressure on ward administrators in Manaung Township, Arakan State, to conscript more young men for the Myanmar military.

Civilian casualties inflicted by the Myanmar regime’s air and artillery strikes continue to rise in Arakan State as the regime has been targeting residential areas in retaliation for its recent string of military defeats.

A man was seriously injured after stepping on a landmine near a local police battalion in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township on Saturday.

Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has again vowed to hold new elections without fail despite having lost large swaths of territory to the armed resistance over the past few months.

A total of 65 junta soldiers were killed and 43 injured in six days of fighting with the Arakan Army (AA) from March 24-29 in Arakan State and Magway Region, according to the AA.

A junta airstrike on Phetkyat Village, part of Arakan State’s Ramree Township, killed a child and injured two others at around 12 noon on March 30.

Ashin Pyinnyarbala, the 57-year-old monk, and U San Tun, a man in his 70s from Thaekan Village, sustained injuries in the junta air attacks.

Five civilians including a teenager were injured by junta artillery strikes in Kanhtaunggyi town, part of Arakan State’s Myebon Township, on Friday. Two of them remain in critical condition, according to residents. 

At least 15 regime soldiers were killed and 15 others were injured in a clash with the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State’s Ann Township, where the military’s Western Command headquarters is based, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.

Fighting between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) broke out in Myebon town, Arakan State, which is held by the ethnic armed group, on Thursday.

The Arakan Army (AA) has been launching attacks on junta bases and military camps in Maungdaw District, Arakan State, with the regime responding using joint army and air forces.

Myanmar’s much-maligned junta has lost large swaths of territory since a major offensive known as Operation 1027 was launched in late October last year.

Myanmar’s military regime has begun sending Muslim refugees it conscripted from a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, to the front line.