Residents are leaving junta-controlled Sittwe and Kyaukphyu after Arakan Army (AA) chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing told them to do so on Wednesday ahead of planned assaults on the towns.

The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) is attempting to persuade civilians trapped in the Arakan State capital Sittwe to join it, according to residents.

The military clashed with the Arakha Army (AA) at a location between Kwaychaung and Yaysin villages in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, at about 5 a.m. on Saturday, according to locals.

The AA has repeatedly warned junta soldiers to surrender as soon as possible if they want to be reunited with their families rather than dying on the battlefield.

Myanmar’s military regime has been reinforcing its troops in Taungup Township, building more outposts and deploying warships around the town. Residents have also reported seeing troop movements.

Junta soldiers reportedly took four young men from Kulabartaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, on the afternoon of April 11.

The Arakan Army (AA) reportedly seized the entire Kyeinchaung border guard police outpost in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, in a pre-dawn raid on Friday.

Junta-appointed Arakan State chief minister U Htein Lin, accompanied by members of the Arakan State military council, went to Thandwe on Tuesday when he chaired educational talks on mandatory military service.

Ngapali, Myanmar’s most popular beach destination in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township, is almost completely deserted despite the upcoming Thingyan holidays.

The military regime has beefed up security in the Arakan State capital Sittwe as the Arakan Army (AA) is advancing toward the town.

Arakan Army (AA) chief Maj-Gen Twan Mrat Naing vowed to take decisive action to arrest the war criminals and get justice for the people who have lost their lives.

Over 1,000 Muslims from Bumay and Barsar villages and Bawdupha and Ohntawgyi displacement camps underwent two weeks of military training at the Regional Operations Command in Sittwe.

The Arakan Army (AA) and the success of its revolutionary journey have been praised by the UWSP, the political wing of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed organisation,

Local people are concerned for their safety as the besieged Western Command headquarters and   No. 8 communications battalion are located near civilian areas.

The regime has blockaded roads and waterways since renewed fighting broke out on November 13 last year, making it impossible for many residents to travel between towns.

The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) was among those sending messages of felicitation to mark the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Arakan Army (AA) on Wednesday.

The junta’s indiscriminate artillery strikes killed a boy and injured a teenager in two Arakan State townships on Tuesday, according to local people.

The Chin Brotherhood, an ethnic alliance of six anti-regime resistance groups based in Chin State, said it would cooperate with the Arakan Army (AA) in eliminating the dictatorship in Myanmar.

Arakan Army (AA) chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing vowed to seize total control of Arakan State in his address marking the 15th anniversary of the ethnic armed group’s founding on Wednesday.