Renewed fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine over strategic port cities

Fresh fighting has broken out between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar’s military junta as both sides battle for control of the strategically vital port cities of Sittwe and Kyaukpyu in Rakhine State, according to security sources.

The escalation followed the junta-backed political bloc securing victories in the last three townships in Rakhine that had remained under Myanmar army control, effectively ending the military’s presence in the province.

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With 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships now under Arakan Army control, the renewed clashes underscore the rapidly shrinking territorial footprint of the junta in the state.

The Myanmar military has intensified artillery shelling of Arakan Army positions around Sittwe and Kyaukpyu, while AA forces have launched cautious but sustained attacks aimed at gaining access to parts of the two cities.

These engagements mark one of the most significant escalations since the Arakan Army consolidated control over much of rural and semi-urban Rakhine several months ago.

Both ports are of major regional and geopolitical importance. Sittwe port, developed with Indian assistance, is central to New Delhi’s Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, intended to link the Bay of Bengal to Mizoram and provide India’s landlocked northeastern states with an alternative access route bypassing Bangladesh.

Kyaukpyu port, backed by China, is a cornerstone of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, designed to connect Myanmar’s coast to southwestern China through road, and gas pipeline networks, giving China strategic access to the Indian Ocean.

Despite having taken control of most of Rakhine, the Arakan Army has until now advanced cautiously toward these fortified port cities, keen to avoid directly antagonising India and China, whose economic and strategic interests are deeply tied to Sittwe and Kyaukpyu.

Analysts say this restraint explains the measured pace of AA operations near the ports.

However, the latest round of fighting suggests that the Arakanese want to consolidate, while the Myanmar army buoyed by their electoral results which are likely to bring a Junta backed party to power want to use these port cities as a bridgehead for more actions in Rakhine.

“The Arakan Army appears intent on completing its break from Myanmar’s central authority, on the one hand and the Myanmarese want another go at crushing them,” a regional security analyst said, noting that control over Sittwe and Kyaukpyu would grant the group unprecedented economic and geopolitical leverage to whoever controls them.

The clashes coincide with developments on the political front. Myanmar’s military-backed political party extended its lead after the second round of voting, according to official figures released by the election commission on Friday.

The results put the junta-aligned bloc on track for a parliamentary majority as the country moves into the final phase of its three-stage general election.

The polls, conducted amid ongoing conflict, have been widely criticised by opposition forces and international observers as “one-sided”.

Rakhine State has remained one of the most volatile theatres of Myanmar’s post-coup conflict.