Native residents in and across the township had been trapped,
displaced or pressured to
flee their properties because of the months-long battle for Ann.
In line with experiences, the army
entered Pyaung Chaung village and burned it down on Oct. 31, 2024.
Satellite tv for pc imagery from Nov. 1, 2024, exhibits large-scale harm within the village. There have been experiences that the
army warned residents to evacuate the village per week earlier than the assault.
Ross believes that the army’s intention has been to attempt to make Rakhine as ungovernable as
potential if the AA positive factors full management of the state.
Close by villages of Yat Thar Ywar Thit
and Pyaung Thay present comparable proof of destruction.
Sittwe
metropolis, the capital of Rakhine State, has develop into a focal space of combating since late 2025.
Town is in Sittwe township, one of many three townships nonetheless beneath junta management.
Su Mon Thant, Asia-Pacific analyst at Armed Battle Location and Occasion Knowledge Undertaking (ACLED),
stated capturing Sittwe can be extremely symbolic for the AA as no non-state actor has but taken
management of a state capital within the nation.
The AA already controls areas alongside an India-backed transport hall in Myanmar that features
a port in Sittwe.
Sittwe is surrounded by water on three sides. Capturing it could be difficult, with the
army sustaining naval superiority and constructing defences in and across the metropolis to discourage a
potential AA offensive, Ross stated.
On Dec. 27, 2024, the AA attacked the Kyauk
Tan checkpoint close to Sittwe on the freeway linking the capital to Yangon, the most important metropolis to the
south of Rakhine.
There are various villages close to the checkpoint.
the place, based on native experiences,
junta forces carried out an arson assault that destroyed 80 homes on Jan. 15, 2024.
Bellingcat discovered a minimum of 13 villages close to the checkpoint that had been destroyed, with solely a
few remaining buildings. All however certainly one of them had been attacked in 2024-2025.
Lower than 4km from the checkpoint is Yar Tan
which seems intact in a March 2024 Google Earth picture
however a number of buildings look destroyed in high-resolution satellite tv for pc picture on Google Earth from
March 2025.
Trenches and army outposts started showing close to the village round Nov-Dec 2024.
They grew because the months handed. Nonetheless, on account of a scarcity of up to date high-resolution satellite tv for pc
photographs, we can not inform whether or not these are at present in use or to what extent.
There are additionally villages that seem to have been changed with defensive buildings. For
instance, Kan Pyin Ywar Haung, for which the newest out there high-resolution satellite tv for pc picture
exhibits trenches on each side.
Though such buildings are clearly seen in high-resolution satellite tv for pc imagery, lower-quality
photographs may also assist point out whether or not a village was changed with fortifications.
Kan Pyin Ywar Thit, positioned simply south of Kan Pyin Ywar Haung, seems to have been fully
destroyed; nonetheless, the identical criss-crossing strains should not seen throughout the village.
Comparable fortifications seem in different villages.
Defence infrastructure has changed villages on the outskirts of Sittwe, making it harder
for AA to advance in direction of town, stated Ross.
Bellingcat additionally discovered a minimum of 10 villages partially or completely destroyed in Kyaukpyu Township
since combating intensified in February 2025.
Kyaukpyu,
which has considerable oil, pure gasoline and marine assets, can also be residence to a junta naval base
Practically all of the villages we discovered to be destroyed or broken are inside a 10km radius of the
naval base.
In early March this 12 months, clashes
happened between the AA and the army close to Say Maw village, positioned lower than 5km from the
base.
NASA FIRMS detected hearth within the village and the encircling areas on March 23, 2026.
The most recent excessive decision satellite tv for pc picture on Planet from April 2026 exhibits flattened buildings in
the village.
A month earlier Saing Chon Dwein village, additionally lower than 5km from the bottom, was reportedly
burned down by the army.
The fireplace was caught on a Feb. 9, 2026 decrease decision satellite tv for pc picture
with burnt areas distinguishable the subsequent day.
Like Sittwe, Kyaukpyu is surrounded by water, making it troublesome for the Arakan Military, which
lacks naval capabilities, to grab management. “AA has some superior drones reportedly, however these
areas even have jamming expertise,” stated Thant.
Methodology
The information was compiled utilizing information experiences, together with social media channels, ACLED, satellite tv for pc imagery and NASA FIRMS. The names of the villages had been corroborated utilizing the UN’s Myanmar Data Administration Unit (MIMU), information experiences and Planet Labs.
We solely included areas the place the destruction was clearly seen in high-resolution satellite tv for pc imagery or important sufficient to be detected in mid-resolution photographs. Our knowledge just isn’t exhaustive and the true variety of affected villages is more likely to be larger.
Whereas it’s troublesome to determine whether or not the villages we discovered broken or destroyed confirmed indicators of reconstruction, a minimum of 5 of them seem to point out some buildings rebuilt in newest out there satellite tv for pc imagery.
Army Management Is Slipping
Final month, within the first election since Myanmar’s 2021 coup, the pro-military parliament selected junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to be the subsequent president.
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In line with analysis group Knowledge for Myanmar, a minimum of 65 townships had been excluded from voting, together with the 14 within the AA’s management. In Rakhine’s 17 townships, voting was held in solely three nonetheless beneath junta management – Kyaukpyu, Sittwe and Manaung.
The AA resumed assaults in opposition to the junta in Rakhine in November 2023, ending a year-long ceasefire.
Knowledge printed by the Armed Battle Location and Occasion Knowledge Undertaking (ACLED) and analysed by Bellingcat reveals a pointy enhance within the army’s air and drone strikes in Rakhine. After the AA resumed its offensive, strikes rose from 30 in 2023 to 461 in 2024. By the top of 2024, the AA had captured all however three townships within the state.
Bellingcat discovered that strikes had been then concentrated within the townships the place the junta is combating to take care of management. They decreased in 13 townships captured by the AA and remained unchanged in a single throughout 2025. In contrast, assaults elevated in Kyaukpyu and Sittwe, but to be captured by the AA. Knowledge for Manaung is unavailable.
ACLED’s knowledge comes from a number of sources, together with information experiences and social media. Whereas the info just isn’t exhaustive, a broad development might be recognized. You’ll be able to learn additional particulars and caveats in regards to the knowledge right here.
Su Mon Thant, Asia-Pacific analyst at ACLED,defined that the army conducts clearance operations to forestall the AA from utilizing villages as buffers or shelters – a tactic employed throughout the nation. “On the similar time, it’s a warning signal for different villages,” she stated, including that when one village is ready ablaze, it sends a sign to different villages to not “settle for, shelter or harbor” armed teams. Thant additionally famous that individuals are displaced when their village is destroyed, eroding help for armed teams as locals endure the results of the combating.
The AA has vowed to take management of all of Rakhine by 2027 and success might deliver a geopolitical shift within the area. The armed group’s management over Kyaukpyu and Sittwe will give it important leverage, with each India and China having infrastructure initiatives within the townships, Steve Ross of the Stimson Heart informed Bellingcat.
However neither aspect can management the state with out additional alleviation of civilian struggling, Ross stated. In line with UNHRC knowledge, there are nearly half 1,000,000 internally displaced individuals (IDPs) in Rakhine as of March 30, 2026.
In Sittwe township alone, about 120,000 Rohingya have been displaced by communal battle since 2012.
“Individuals displaced from different components of Rakhine State throughout the battle are in Sittwe, a whole lot of 1000’s of civilians,” stated Thant, including that neither aspect can management the capital with out important lack of life.
There are additionally 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The futures of each the refugees and IDPs stay unsure.
“No person can go residence but at this stage,” stated Thant.
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