Myanmar ethnic minority fighters claim control of port town

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Myanmar
Fighters from a Myanmar ethnic minority armed group have seized control of a port town after more than two months of intense clashes with junta troops, they said.

The Arakan Army (AA) said late Wednesday it “completely controlled” Pauktaw, a town of 20,000 people close to a crucial deepwater port in the capital of western Rakhine state.

AA fighters briefly seized Pauktaw in November, shattering a fragile ceasefire that had largely held since the military’s coup in 2021.

The junta has used artillery and naval ships to bombard the town almost daily since, and strafed it with gunfire from helicopters, residents have told reporters.

New Google Earth images of Pauktaw showed a block of the downtown area reduced almost entirely to rubble and damage to several buildings near its harbour.

Several buildings in the police station compound were destroyed too.

On Tuesday the AA said “intense” clashes were ongoing in the town.

The junta has not commented on recent clashes in Pauktaw.

Around 18,000 people had been displaced from the area due to fighting, the United Nations said in November.

Pauktaw is 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of the state capital Sittwe, home to a deepwater port partly financed by India as it seeks to deepen economic linkages with Myanmar.

Earlier this week Myanmar’s chambers of commerce hosted talks with an Indian business delegation on “upgrading” operations at Sittwe port, junta-backed media reported Thursday.

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