By MPA
GWA, Myanmar — In a major tactical development hollowing out the military regime’s coastal defense grid, the Arakan Army (AA) has successfully captured three strategic artillery-backed outposts deep inside neighboring Ayeyarwady Region after routing a major junta offensive aimed at breaking into southern Rakhine State.
In an official military bulletin published late Saturday night, 27 June, the AA command detailed that intense, non-stop engagements have broken out along the volatile border matrix separating Rakhine State and the Ayeyarwady delta country.
The military council had originally dispatched a heavily armed strike force comprising over 400 soldiers drawn from the Pathein-based Light Infantry Battalions and the No. 344 Artillery Regiment. Backed by daily high-altitude bombing runs and coordinated amphibious naval maneuvers, the junta columns attempted to drive a wedge into the border to secure an entry corridor into Rakhine’s heavily contested Gwa Township.
However, the AA command reported that its frontline units successfully absorbed the initial shock of the assault before executing a series of aggressive, localized counter-offensives. Rather than fighting a defensive battle within Rakhine, AA shock troops pushed across the regional boundary into Ayeyarwady’s Yekyi Township, systematically surrounding and storming the military’s fortified high-ground positions.
The guerrilla counter-thrust successfully liquidated three key military tactical nodes within a five-day window:
- Point 288 Hill: Overrun and liberated by AA forces on 17 June.
- Point 188 Hill: Capitulated following intense close-quarters combat on 19 June.
- Point 148 Hill: Completely secured alongside its defense perimeter on 21 June.
AA field commanders confirmed the recovery of several enemy bodies at the scenes, alongside the capture of a significant stockpile of heavy infantry weapons, live artillery ammunition, and tactical military hardware abandoned by retreating junta units.
Independent security analysts note that the fighting inside Yekyi Township represents a significant expansion of the AA’s active operational footprint, marking the first time the ethnic army has sliced deep into the Bamar-majority plains of the Ayeyarwady delta to capture permanent regime garrisons.
The military brief added that the junta is currently resorting to desperate “human wave” infantry sweeps to stabilize failing front lines along multiple border axes. Fierce clashes continue to rake the outskirts of the state capital, Sittwe, and the deep-water port city of Kyaukphyu, as well as the mountainous boundaries separating Rakhine from Magway, Bago, and Chin State’s Mindat and Kanpetlet townships.
By failing to secure the land routes running through the Ayeyarwady region, the military high command has lost its primary logistical staging ground to reinforce its isolated coastal garrisons in southern Rakhine. With the AA now firmly perched on the tactical ridge lines of Yekyi, military monitors warn that the junta’s core naval commands inside the delta are increasingly exposed to direct long-range artillery encirclement.
