[Tee tiong huat]

Arakan Army seizes control of key town near Rakhine capital Sittwe. The regime responded to the capture of its last base in Ponnagyun by carrying out air and artillery attacks, according to locals.

Arakan Army (AA) says that it has captured the last remaining junta base near Ponnagyun, giving it full control of the town about 20 miles northeast of the Rakhine State capital Sittwe.

In a statement released on Monday, the group said that the base, under Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 550, fell after 11 days of fighting that began on February 23.

In response, the regime carried out 12 airstrikes in the area beginning at around 5pm, the statement added.

According to a local woman, a factory and several houses were damaged by the regime’s retaliatory actions.“The AA captured the town by around 1pm and the airstrikes started at 4 or 5pm. Later in the night, they also fired three heavy artillery shells from Padaleik Ward in Sittwe,” said the woman.

She added that she also saw some of the weapons and ammunition captured from the LIB. .
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/arakan-a...al-sittwe/