The military launched a joint operation of ground troops, navy and air forces for control of Pauktaw against the Arakan Army, which has been attempting to rescue dozens of residents trapped by the fighting.

“Children were playing near a classroom after having lunch when the military carried out a drone attack,” said a family member of the injured.

Since renewed fighting broke out on November 13, Myanmar’s military regime has detained at least 60 civilians in Sittwe, Buthidaung, Ponnagyun, Kyaukphyu and Taungup townships.

Myanmar’s military regime has not allowed drivers to pass through the Kyauk Talone checkpoint just outside the town. It has also issued an order banning water transport along the sea adjacent to the town until December 19.

“It has become very difficult to buy fuel in Sittwe. If we can’t buy fuel, we will have to suspend our operations temporarily,” said U Min Htel Warr, chairman of the Shwe Yaung Metta Foundation.

MPT phone lines are down in some parts of Ann, Myebon, Pauktaw and Manaung townships in Arakan State, according to local residents.

Around 30 junta soldiers have been stationed at the convocation hall and four-storey building on the campus of Sittwe University since November 25, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Local residents have accused the military’s Ponnagyun-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 550 of firing the mortar shell.

Though it is time to harvest paddy, many farmers are unable to do so due to fighting around their villages and the junta’s indiscriminate artillery strikes.

“The military launched a drone attack on the village without fighting. A woman sustained severe injuries to her left eye and abdomen,” said a local woman from Khamaungdaw Village.

An elderly man was killed and a teenage girl was injured after mortar shells landed and exploded in Kainggyi Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, on November 25, according to locals.

A mortar shell fired by a Myanmar Navy vessel fell in Ba One Ward, Pauktaw, killing Daw Oo Nyunt Sein, a 70-year-old woman, on the spot.

Eight junta soldiers were killed and some were wounded in a clash with the Arakan Army (AA) near Kainggyi Village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said in a statement on Saturday.

More houses caught fire in Arakan State’s Pauktaw town on Saturday after being hit by artillery shells fired by junta warships and the No. 12 Police Battalion in Sittwe.

Currently, the two sides are fighting in seven townships in Arakan State including Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Minbya and Myebon, as well as Paletwa in neighbouring Chin State.

The AA attacked the BGF outpost at around 5 p.m. on November 24, and fierce clashes were reported thereafter as the military fired mortar shells.

A local resident was killed and several homes and religious buildings were damaged after junta jet fighters attacked downtown Loilempi and nearby areas.

Locals said that the heavy weapons hit on the Ponnagyun market was a deliberate attack by the regime to cause harm to the civilians during the latest hostilities in Arakan State.

“We heard loud explosions. Three artillery shells landed and exploded in the village, killing a man and injuring four women,” said a local woman from Laigwin Village.