War News

🟥3 civilians were killed, 3 were injured

In recent days, the military junta has been dividing the villages along the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway in Mahlaing Township, Meiktila District, Mandalay Region, and has been conducting ground troops, deploying troops, and opening fire with artillery shells, causing houses to be burned and innocent civilians to be injured, according to military sources on the ground.

At around 1:00 PM on July 22, a 180-strong military junta column that entered from mile stone 318 of the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway entered Aung Thar Village, Mahlaing Township, and engaged in a clash with local defense forces near Aung Thar Village.

After the fighting broke out, the military junta stationed at Si Gyi Swel Pagoda opened fire with artillery shells, which exploded in Letswayt village near Aung Thar village, killing three people and injuring three others.

“The fighting started from Aung Thar, and the revolutionary forces exchanged fire with the war dogs(the military junta soldiers). After the fighting broke out, the revolutionary forces retreated. Then they exchanged fire in Letswayt village, and the military fired artillery shells into the village. Three houses were set on fire. Six people were hit. Three people were killed and three were injured. The revolutionary comrades extinguished the houses that were set on fire by the artillery shells. Currently, the military is stationed in Letswayt village, destroying the houses of the villagers, killing chickens and pigs, taking rice bags and sesame bags, and the entire village is being evacuated,”

said a local villager. After the attack on the military junta’s police vehicle near mile stone 318 of the highway, the military junta lobbyists have been continuously agitating for the military to invade villages in Mahlaing Township.

🟥Aircraft also bombarded civilians, causing injuries

Kyauk Phyu residents say that the military junta navy, which has reinforced its military forces near the coast of Kyauk Phyu, is shelling some villages that have fled to escape the war with artillery shells.

Kyauk Phyu has Danyawaddy Naval Headquarters, Taung Maw Gyi Navy Base, and Ohn Kyun Naval Branch, and the military junta has deployed nearly 30 navies and patrol vessels to these navy bases.

Currently, about 10 combat patrol vessels are operating along the Thanzit River in Kyauk Phyu, and a local resident in Kyauk Phyu said that artillery shells are also being fired at some villages.

“Some navy ships and tug boats from Danyawaddy naval base are moving around Kyauk Phyu. The number of ships is about 10. I heard that some military junta navy ships are also in the vicinity of Malakyun village. Those navy ships are firing at the villages,”

said a Kyauk Phyu military source. The villages that the military junta navy is currently firing at are Zin Chaung, Sittaw, Thaing Chaung and Pyaing Say Kay in Kyauk Phyu Township, a Kyauk Phyu military source close to the AA said.

These villages are fleeing to safe places and other townships due to the AA’s offensive on Kyauk Phyu Township.

Similarly, a Kyauk Phyu local source said that the military junta is also continuously bombing villages inhabited by civilians in Kyauk Phyu Township from the air.

“The military junta is continuously bombing villages where civilians live in Kyauk Phyu. They are also bombing monasteries. They are bombing places where displaced people are taking shelter. They are doing this to prevent the AA from advancing further,”

the Kyauk Phyu military source continued. On the morning of July 22, the military junta’s jet fighter and two bombs were dropped on a monastery in Kyauk Pyauk in Kyauk Phyu Township, injuring a 93 years old monk and a student who was fleeing the war, and some of the school buildings were completely destroyed.

Similarly, on the evening of July 22, the military junta dropped five bombs on Kulaba village in Kyauk Phyu Township, injuring villager U Maung Than Shwe, 55.

The military junta’s jet fighter dropped 1 bomb on a field near Kulaba village, 1 on the main road, 1 near the clinic and 2 in the field next to the road, a total of 5 bombs were dropped.

In Kyauk Phyu Township, the fighting between the military junta and the Arakan Army (AA) is intense in 3 places, and the fighting has now lasted for more than 5 months.

Fighting is intense in Thabeik Kyin, Mandalay Region, and the revolutionary forces have surrendered the areas in villages of Lay Maing ,Ngar Maing and Chauk Maing and some other areas in Thabeik Kyin, according to local military sources.

Thabeik Kyin was attacked by the Mandalay PDF and the revolutionary alliance forces during Operation 1027, and by August 2024, they had taken control of most of the city.

It is reported that the military junta members were forced to retreat to Khunhnit Maing Village near Thabeik Kyin Township during the fighting by the revolutionary forces, and from there they reinforced their forces and attacked Thabeik Kyin town.

“Our teams have retreated to some areas in villages of Lay Maing ,Ngar Maing and Chauk Maing. The fighting is still intense, and the troops are trying our best,”

a local military source told BBM. Thabeik Kyin is strategically important as it is located on the same line as Mogok, Madaya, and Singu, which are controlled by the revolutionary forces, and is also a city that must be passed through when moving up the Irrawaddy River.

Although the military junta’s propaganda channels have been reporting with pictures that the military has regained Thabeik Kyin, the military junta has not yet made an official statement.

On the other hand, the military has been able to recapture Naung Cho and Moe Bye in July, and is also conducting offensive operations to control the areas around Hpakant.

Since the military leadership officially announced that it would hold elections by the end of 2025, the military junta has been increasingly using airstrikes, including drones, to regain the territories it has lost.

The military junta has restricted access to villages near the scene of the fighting

As the military junta forces have marched on Lemyethna Township, Ayeyarwaddy Region, the AA and allied forces have been intercepting them, and the fighting has been intense these days, according to a military source in Lemyethna Township.

The villages of Pan Taw Gyi, Magyi Kone, Kyauk Sayit Kone, and Magyi Pin Kwin in Lemyethna Township, located on the Pathein-Monywa road, have been occupied and controlled by the AA and allied forces, and the military junta has been marching to reclaim these areas, according to a military source in Lemyethna Township who is close to the revolutionary forces.

“The military junta troops from Ye Kyi and Nga Thaing Chaung are reinforcing their forces with vehicles. They are being dropped off at Yae Nant Thar checkpoint at Gwa-Nga Thaing Chaung, Pathein-Monywa junction. They are also being transported to the 344th Army. The main force of the military junta troops who have been reinforced at the Yae Nant Thar checkpoint is marching on the four sides. It is known that there are soldiers from Light Infantry Division 66,”

said a military source in Lemyethna Township. The current fighting between the military junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA) and the allied alliance Forces (PDF) is taking place in the middle of the Pathein-Monywa road in Lemyethna
Township. The military junta has also restricted the movement of villages from one village to another by sea between the villages of Lemyethna Township and Ye Kyi Township.

The military junta troops have blocked all routes for residents of villages such as Gway Tauk Kwin, Shauk Kone, and Thanpura Kone in Lemyethna Township to travel to other townships by navigation .

“The military junta has restricted travel between townships. They are controlling the water way and are conducting forced inspections. Now, people are not even daring to go,”

said a military source in Ayeyarwaddy Region. The military junta was formed to defend against the offensive of the Arakan Army (AA) and the Allied Alliance Forces (PDF) in Ayeyarwady Division.On July 16, the Southwestern Military District (SWDC) and the 26th Battalion of the Pathein Naval Headquarters loaded tanks and military equipment and that three warships are advancing up the Ngawon River to reinforce military forces in Lemyethna Township, according to BBM.

On July 19, the military junta also bombed the villages of Pan Taw Gyi, Kyauk Sarik Kone and Let Tan Nge in
Lemyethna Township, where the fighting is currently ongoing, using air and drone strikes. Some of the remaining villagers in the villages were injured and their homes were burned down.

The Arakan Army (AA) and the allied PDF forces are conducting military operations in Lemyethna, Ingapu, and Thabaung townships in Ayeyarwaddy Division, and are also conducting offensive operations to capture and control Artillery Battalion 344 located in Mrauk San Village, Nga Thaing Chaung Township.

The Mandalay PDF and local revolutionary forces jointly attacked and blocked a convoy of five warships that were sailing up the Ayeyarwaddy River from Gaw Wain Port in Mandalay, the People’s Defense Force(Mandalay) said in a statement.

The military junta said that since July 17, 2025, a convoy of five warships carrying weapons, ammunition and food, a total of 14 ships, were sailing up the Ayeyarwaddy River, when the Mandalay PDF and the revolutionary forces jointly attacked them in Madaya Township,Singu Township and Thabeik Kyin Township.

“The video file we released is a video file of the People’s Defense Force(Mandalay) and local defense forces jointly attacking a convoy of five warships that was the first to arrive from Gaw Wain Port in Mandalay along the Ayeyarwaddy River, and we blocked them along the Madaya, Singu, and Thabeik Kyin rivers,”

Mandalay PDF spokesman Ko Osmond told BBM. During the fighting ,the military junta completely sank one ship carrying weapons, ammunition, and food, and the revolutionary forces were able to burn two other ships, including the warship.

The three ships, which were severely damaged and burned, were surrounded by other ships and continued to take the three ships upstream, he added.

“The remaining ships, which were destroyed by fire during the attacks, were surrounded by two other ships and then took the three ships upstream .”

It was reported that four ships of the military junta were sunk during the attacks, but the initial death toll is not yet known, and that the Mandalay PDF and other allied revolutionary forces will continue to fight to overthrow the military dictatorship.

🟥They set up a gate in front of a nearby gas station and demand money from trucks and buses

A local resident told BBM that 3 military tanks and 3 military vehicles have been reinforced at the Taungzin police station in Nyaung U Township, Mandalay Region.

At around 11:00 am on July 21, 2025, 3 tanks and 3 military vehicles of the Military juntal have been reinforced at the Taungzin police station in Nyaung U Township, and the military council soldiers are demanding money from trucks and buses in front of a gas station about 1 faron north of the police station.

“This morning, they set up a gate about 1 faron north of the station and demanded money yesterday. They are demanding it again today,”

a local resident told BBM.  Currently, the military junta is causing trouble for the people in various ways across the country, such as asking for bribes at bus stations and randomly picking up porters.

🟥The military junta also threatened to shoot from behind if they flee the battlefield, according to the AA informant

Naing Win Soe, a civilian conscript who went to AA, said that the military junta had threatened to torture and kill militia members who went to the frontline battlefield if they went to AA, which controls 14 townships in Rakhine State.

Personal Identification Number: 142952 Naing Win Soe, a resident of Kaw Hmu Township, Yangon Region, was forcibly recruited for military service on January 2, 2025. 

Ko Naing Win Soe was sent to Ye Mon township to attend military training, and after two and a half months of training, he was sent to the front line of the reorganized 55th Division in Sittwe, Rakhine State. 

Upon arriving at the forward outpost of the High Island in Sittwe, the soldiers’ superiors threatened the soldiers with torture and death if they went to the AA, according to Naing Win Soe. 

“The superiors threatened that if you were arrested by the AA or if you went to the AA, you would be tortured in various ways, beaten with ropes, cut off your head, and starved,”

said Naing Win Soe, a soldier who went to the AA.  The military junta’s senior officers have been sharing photos and videos of the torture and death of those they have captured since military training.  

Soldier Naing Win Soe also said that they are using video files to spread propaganda and show it to trainees.

In addition, since the people of the People’s Army are threatened with shooting from behind if they flee the battlefield, they will not allow anyone to flee, said Soldier Naing Win Soe. 

“They are threatening to shoot from behind if they flee the battlefield. That’s why our friends don’t come here either. They are terrorizing us. They usually take away our phones. We don’t communicate with our parents. We don’t communicate with the outside world either. They keep us in the dark,”

said Soldier Naing Win Soe, who spoke to AA.  While serving in the forward outpost of the High Kyun forward outpost in Sittwe, the People’s Army soldier Naing Win Soe said that he was bullied in the army,  The AA announced on July 20 that it had joined the Arakan Army on July 10, 2025, after being pressured to destroy the homes and religious buildings of innocent people. 

Soldier Naing Win Soe, while on the frontline battlefield in Sittwe, said he entered Rakhine villages and, under orders and pressure from above, destroyed homes and monasteries in the villages without thinking, built bunkers, communication tunnels, and bomb shelters. 

The Arakan Army announced on July 15 that young people from all over Burma who were forcibly recruited by the military junta and subjected to various forms of torture can join the AA at any time and that they will be guaranteed the safety of their lives. 

Naing Win Soe, who joined the AA, said,

“When I joined the AA, they told me that the AA welcomed me differently. They treat us like brothers. They help us with food and clothes. If we are not healthy, the AA helps us with medicine. The AA is not like that because they say so.” 

The AA also said that the military junta is trying hard to recruit young people from all over the country to regain the camps they lost across Myanmar. 

The military junta is recruiting 5,000 trainees per batch, and it has reached 15th batch, and it is also learned that the militias who have completed the training are constantly being sent to the frontline. 

A total of (4) vessels, including (1) ammunition-carrying vessel, were set on fire and sunk

The Mandalay PDF blocked and attacked a group of military junta’s vessels coming up the Ayeyarwady River, damaging (4) warships, the People’s Defense Force (Mandalay) announced.

On July 17, 2025,the Mandalay PDF blocked a group of (5) warships, totaling (14) vessels, coming up the Ayeyarwaddy river from Gaw Wain River Port in Mandalay along Madaya Township, Singu Township, and Thabeik Kyin Township.

The attack by the revolutionary forces resulted in the sinking of one (1) tugboat carrying ammunition, and the burning of one (1) warship and two (2) other tugboats, resulting in heavy losses.

The the People’s Defense Force (Mandalay) announced that Y-12, jet fighters, and Mi-35 aircrafts were used to bomb and protect the group of vessels along the river, while the People’s Defense Force (Mandalay) was able to attack and defeat the military junta.