Local residents in and around the township were trapped,
displaced or forced to
flee their homes due to the months-long fight for Ann.
According to reports, the military
entered Pyaung Chaung village and burned it down on Oct. 31, 2024.
Satellite imagery from Nov. 1, 2024, shows large-scale damage in the village. There were reports that the
military warned residents to evacuate the village a week before the attack.
Ross believes that the military’s intention has been to try to make Rakhine as ungovernable as
possible if the AA gains full control of the state.
Nearby villages of Yat Thar Ywar Thit
and Pyaung Thay show similar evidence of destruction.
Sittwe
city, the capital of Rakhine State, has become a focal area of fighting since late 2025.
The city is in Sittwe township, one of the three townships still under junta control.
Su Mon Thant, Asia-Pacific analyst at Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED),
said capturing Sittwe would be highly symbolic for the AA as no non-state actor has yet taken
control of a state capital in the country.
The AA already controls areas along an India-backed transport corridor in Myanmar that includes
a port in Sittwe.
Sittwe is surrounded by water on three sides. Capturing it would be challenging, with the
military maintaining naval superiority and building defences in and around the city to deter a
potential AA offensive, Ross said.
On Dec. 27, 2024, the AA attacked the Kyauk
Tan checkpoint near Sittwe on the highway linking the capital to Yangon, the largest city to the
south of Rakhine.
There are many villages near the checkpoint.
where, according to local reports,
junta forces carried out an arson attack that destroyed 80 houses on Jan. 15, 2024.
Bellingcat found at least 13 villages near the checkpoint that had been destroyed, with only a
few remaining structures. All but one of them were attacked in 2024-2025.
Less than 4km from the checkpoint is Yar Tan
which appears intact in a March 2024 Google Earth image
but several buildings look destroyed in high-resolution satellite image on Google Earth from
March 2025.
Trenches and military outposts began appearing near the village around Nov-Dec 2024.
They grew as the months passed. However, due to a lack of updated high-resolution satellite
images, we cannot tell whether these are currently in use or to what extent.
There are also villages that appear to have been replaced with defensive structures. For
example, Kan Pyin Ywar Haung, for which the latest available high-resolution satellite image
shows trenches on both sides.
Although such structures are clearly visible in high-resolution satellite imagery, lower-quality
images can also help indicate whether a village was replaced with fortifications.
Kan Pyin Ywar Thit, located just south of Kan Pyin Ywar Haung, appears to have been completely
destroyed; however, the same criss-crossing lines are not visible across the village.
Similar fortifications appear in other villages.
Defence infrastructure has replaced villages on the outskirts of Sittwe, making it more difficult
for AA to advance towards the city, said Ross.
Bellingcat also found at least 10 villages partially or totally destroyed in Kyaukpyu Township
since fighting intensified in February 2025.
Kyaukpyu,
which has abundant oil, natural gas and marine resources, is also home to a junta naval base
Nearly all the villages we found to be destroyed or damaged are within a 10km radius of the
naval base.
In early March this year, clashes
took place between the AA and the military near Say Maw village, located less than 5km from the
base.
NASA FIRMS detected fire in the village and the surrounding areas on March 23, 2026.
The latest high resolution satellite image on Planet from April 2026 shows flattened buildings in
the village.
A month earlier Saing Chon Dwein village, also less than 5km from the base, was reportedly
burned down by the military.
The fire was caught on a Feb. 9, 2026 lower resolution satellite image
with burnt areas distinguishable the next day.
Like Sittwe, Kyaukpyu is surrounded by water, making it difficult for the Arakan Army, which
lacks naval capabilities, to seize control. “AA has some advanced drones reportedly, but these
areas also have jamming technology,” said Thant.
Methodology
The data was compiled using news reports, including social media channels, ACLED, satellite imagery and NASA FIRMS. The names of the villages were corroborated using the UN’s Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU), news reports and Planet Labs.
We only included areas where the destruction was clearly visible in high-resolution satellite imagery or significant enough to be detected in mid-resolution images. Our data is not exhaustive and the true number of affected villages is likely to be higher.
While it is difficult to ascertain whether the villages we found damaged or destroyed showed signs of reconstruction, at least five of them appear to show some buildings rebuilt in latest available satellite imagery.
Military Control Is Slipping
Last month, in the first election since Myanmar’s 2021 coup, the pro-military parliament chose junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to be the next president.
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According to research group Data for Myanmar, at least 65 townships were excluded from voting, including the 14 in the AA’s control. In Rakhine’s 17 townships, voting was held in only three still under junta control – Kyaukpyu, Sittwe and Manaung.
The AA resumed attacks against the junta in Rakhine in November 2023, ending a year-long ceasefire.
Data published by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) and analysed by Bellingcat reveals a sharp increase in the military’s air and drone strikes in Rakhine. After the AA resumed its offensive, strikes rose from 30 in 2023 to 461 in 2024. By the end of 2024, the AA had captured all but three townships in the state.
Bellingcat found that strikes were then concentrated in the townships where the junta is fighting to maintain control. They decreased in 13 townships captured by the AA and remained unchanged in one during 2025. By contrast, attacks increased in Kyaukpyu and Sittwe, yet to be captured by the AA. Data for Manaung is unavailable.
ACLED’s data comes from multiple sources, including news reports and social media. While the data is not exhaustive, a broad trend can be identified. You can read further details and caveats about the data here.
Su Mon Thant, Asia-Pacific analyst at ACLED,explained that the military conducts clearance operations to prevent the AA from using villages as buffers or shelters – a tactic employed across the country. “At the same time, it’s a warning sign for other villages,” she said, adding that when one village is set ablaze, it sends a signal to other villages not to “accept, shelter or harbor” armed groups. Thant also noted that people are displaced when their village is destroyed, eroding support for armed groups as locals suffer the consequences of the fighting.
The AA has vowed to take control of all of Rakhine by 2027 and success may bring a geopolitical shift in the region. The armed group’s control over Kyaukpyu and Sittwe will give it significant leverage, with both India and China having infrastructure projects in the townships, Steve Ross of the Stimson Center told Bellingcat.
But neither side can control the state without further alleviation of civilian suffering, Ross said. According to UNHRC data, there are almost half a million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Rakhine as of March 30, 2026.
Estimated total IDPs in March-April of each year. Data prior to 2022 is unavailable. Source: United Nations Human Rights Council. Chart: Created on Datawrapper, edited on Adobe Illustrator by Pooja Chaudhuri/Bellingcat
In Sittwe township alone, about 120,000 Rohingya have been displaced by communal conflict since 2012.
“People displaced from other parts of Rakhine State during the war are in Sittwe, hundreds of thousands of civilians,” said Thant, adding that neither side can control the capital without significant loss of life.
There are also 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The futures of both the refugees and IDPs remain uncertain.
“Nobody can go home yet at this stage,” said Thant.
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