Myanmar Junta Transports Heavy Frontline Casualties to Pathein Under Cover of Darkness

Junta troops killed in fighting with the AA.

Facing mounting casualties from intense fighting along the Rakhine State–Ayeyarwady Region border, Myanmar military junta forces are secretly transporting hundreds of killed and wounded soldiers to Pathein every night under strict blackouts, according to local residents and security sources.

Frontline casualties from clashes around Theaphyu, Thabaunglay, and Kinmunchin villages in Thabaung Township are initially brought to a designated security outpost in Kyetthunkwin Village at around 10:00 PM each night before being transferred onward to Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady Region.

"Every night, about half an hour before the convoys arrive from Theaphyu, the military cuts electricity to the entire village," a Kyetthunkwin resident told NMG. "They also lock down the roads to ensure no civilians are nearby."

Local sources near the outpost reported that night-time transport operations have continued for at least five consecutive days, involving between one and four military vehicles each night.

"At the Kyetthunkwin outpost, they transfer casualties onto waiting trucks from Pathein," a source close to regime personnel said. "In the dark, from a distance, loading the bodies looks like moving heavy logs. Sentinels guard the pitch-black roads to ensure complete secrecy."

The regime has suffered severe losses during sustained offensives launched by anti-junta resistance forces led by the Arakan Army (AA) along the regional border. Sources at the Southwest Region Military Command headquarters in Pathein confirmed that Medical Corps 4 is overwhelmed with wounded troops, with multiple fatalities reported daily at the facility.

Reports indicate that a junta tactical operations commander and a major were recently killed in action along the Rakhine–Ayeyarwady border. Following their deaths, regime forces deployed covert roadside sentinels along the Kyetthunkwin–Theaphyu route, subjecting local plantation workers and motorists to aggressive inspections.

Concurrently, the AA-led coalition has advanced to within one mile of the junta’s Artillery Battalion 344 in neighboring Yegyi Township. Casualties from the fighting near Yegyi are also being routed secretly through Set Daunt Gyi Village toward Pathein.