Junta's No. 344 Artillery Battalion in Ayeyarwady Faces Heavy AA and PDF Assault

Khaing Lu Hla (Roma Mray) — The Arakan Army (AA) and the People’s Defense Force (PDF) have launched a coordinated, heavy assault on the Myanmar military's Artillery Battalion (344).

The base is located along the Nga Thaing Chaung-Gwa road in Ye Kyi Township, Ayeyarwady Division, near the southern Rakhine border town of Gwa.

According to the Special Information Unit-Pathein, a local monitoring group, the battalion is on the verge of collapse. The junta forces have suffered severe casualties, prompting both soldiers and officers to abandon their posts and flee the battlefield.

In response to the deteriorating situation at the Ye Kyi base, Deputy Military Region Commander Ye Lin Aung abruptly left the front lines.

He arrived at the Southwestern Regional Command headquarters in Pathein on the morning of May 15, traveling in a two-vehicle military convoy. Sources within the regional headquarters confirmed that an emergency situational report was immediately submitted to the commander of the Southwest Command (Natakha), Major General Aung Kyaw Khine.

Military sources indicate that the junta is losing control of large swaths of territory across Ayeyarwady Division, forcing troops into a widespread retreat. This string of defeats has fueled deep resentment and low morale within the ranks.

Amid growing paranoia over internal leaks, the Military Security Affairs (MSA) unit arrested three family members of veteran military personnel at the Pathein base during the second week of May.

Insiders report that the trio is being falsely accused of serving as informants for the resistance.

Internal divisions are also widening on the front lines. In the neighboring 38th Infantry Battalion, commander Min Min Htun and his troops requested permission to fall back after sustaining heavy losses against the AA. However, senior command denied the request, forcing the depleted unit to maintain its positions.

Some localized news reports suggest that AA and PDF forces briefly seized the Artillery Battalion (344) base before executing a tactical withdrawal to avoid anticipated military airstrikes.

Despite state media propaganda claiming successful operations, independent military analysts conclude that the Myanmar junta is facing systematic defeats in its engagements against the AA.